Oil hits 100 dollar barrier

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The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) confirmed that a transaction had been made for crude oil at 100 US dollars a barrel. A weak dollar, unrest in several spots across the world and fears over declining US oil stocks combined to raise prices to the record levels, analysts said.

The milestone spells more bad news for drivers in the UK who now face paying a new high of 103.3p for a litre of petrol - beating the previous record of 102.92p set on Boxing Day. The price of US crude at Nymex later dropped back to 99.36 US dollars a barrel, up 3.38 dollars on the day.

Recent daily price rises have been blamed on unrest in oil-supplying countries such as Nigeria and Iraq, and increased demand from China and India. Current political unrest in Pakistan and Kenya are also thought to have added to market fears.

The oil-producers' cartel Opec has also blamed speculators for the high price of crude and said there was plenty of the fuel in the market to meet demand.

Oil dealers were bracing themselves for a report due on Thursday which is likely to show the seventh weekly decline in a row for US inventories.

David Buik of BGC Partners said the 100 dollar trade was an important milestone, and could well be breached in the coming days and weeks. He said: "It's never been reached before, so is a significant mark.

"There is so much political unrest in Pakistan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Iraq and when you have got an increased oil shortage in the US, it all combines. There's no opportunity for the price coming down in the next three months until the weather gets warmer."

The price of oil last came within touching distance of 100 dollars a barrel in November when it reached a record 99.29 on fears over US stock levels, a weak dollar and concerns about conflict in northern Iraq disrupting supplies.

The record petrol prices in the UK means filling a typical 50-litre tank now costs £7.36 more than a year ago. The AA said diesel was also now costing 107.95p a litre - just off the record 108.00p set on December 6 2007.