Oil prices neared $105 a barrel Wednesday for the first time ever after a government report showed a surprise dip in crude supplies and OPEC announced its decision to not increase production.
U.S. light crude for April delivery settled at a record $104.52, up $5, beating the previous settlement high of $102.59 set last week. After the settlement, crude prices rose as high as $104.95, topping the previous all-time intraday high of $103.95 set Monday.
In its weekly report, the Energy Information Administration said crude stocks fell by 3.1 million barrels last week. Analysts were looking for a rise of 2.3 million barrels, according to a Dow Jones poll. Oil was up $2.05 to $101.57 a barrel just prior to the inventory report's release at 10:30 a.m. ET....
Oil prices have risen nearly five-fold since 2002. Most analysts blame rising demand and tight supply. That has also attracted floods of investment money, and exaggerated the effects of supply disruptions.
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