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Oil prices pass $143 a barrel

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-01 00:00

Oil prices surged above $143 a barrel for the first time ever Monday, as a weaker dollar spurred investors to seek refuge in dollar-denominated oil futures to hedge against inflation.

A refinery worker controls a valve on a pipeline at an oil refinery in Basra, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, in this photo taken March 2007. Next week several major oil companies are expected to announce contracts to start servicing the Iraqi oil infrastructure. [Agencies]

"The main factors behind the rise today are the US dollar remains fragile and geopolitical tensions, particularly surrounding Iran," said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "That's unsettling for the oil market."

The European Central Bank may raise interest rates at its next meeting on Thursday, a move that would help strengthen the euro against the dollar, Moore said.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $3.46 to $143.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, by midday in Europe.

On Friday, crude futures spiked to a record $142.99 a barrel in New York before closing at $140.21.

In London, Brent crude futures rose $2.87 to $143.18 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

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