3/11/08 - WTI Oil Futures Close At Record $108.75, Brent Closes At Record $105.25 - Bloomberg

[hatrack]

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to a record for a fifth day, climbing above $109 a barrel in New York, after the weak dollar prompted traders to invest in commodities. The euro rose to $1.5495 against the dollar, the highest since the single currency's introduction in 1999, after European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said he doesn't see any leeway to lower borrowing costs. The dollar rebounded from the day's low after the Federal Reserve said it will lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities in exchange for debt.

``This is all about the dollar,'' said Adam Sieminski, Deutsche Bank's chief energy economist in New York. ``To a lot of the world the rise in prices isn't that severe because of the falling dollar. Also OPEC has no incentive to rein in prices with the dollar dropping.''

Crude oil for April delivery rose 85 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $108.75 a barrel at 2:46 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a record close. Futures surged to $109.72 a barrel today, the highest since trading began in 1983.

Brent crude for April settlement rose $1.09, or 1.1 percent, to close at a record $105.25 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. Futures reached a all-time high intraday price of $105.82 a barrel today.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aLom4V1suPNI&refer=australia

On edit - fixed headline.

[louis-t]

1. And the Fed pumped $200bil into the system

further weakening the dollar and causing oil futures to soar. But at least the big stockholders who have been whining for weeks will be happy. DJI up 400.