Crude-oil rose Tuesday to a new trading record of 113.99 dollars a barrel on supply concerns in Russia, Mexico and Nigeria and a weakening dollar.
Crude oil for May delivery rallied 2.03 dollars, or 1.8 percent, to close at 113.79 dollars on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
An International Energy Agency report says that Russian oil production dropped this year for the first time in a decade. The report raised concerns about whether the key oil-producing nation will have enough supply to help feed growing global demand.
Russia, the world's biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, averaged 10 million barrels per day from January through March, down 1 percent from 2007, says the report, adding that this is the first time production has failed to exceed previous-year figures since 1998.
Mexico's Merchant Marine issued a bulletin Tuesday morning that the Pacific oil port of Salina Cruz also had been closed because of strong wind and high waves, although that terminal is not a major supplier for the United States.
Adding to supply concerns, Eni SpA, Italy's biggest energy company, said Monday that sabotage over the weekend caused a fire at oil plants in Nigeria, causing a total output loss of about 5,000 barrels a day.
The euro bought 1.5865 dollars early Tuesday, up from 1.5808 dollars the previous session. The euro hit an all-time high against the dollar last Thursday.
Meanwhile, retail gasoline prices rose to a new average national record of 3.386 dollars, according to American Automobile Association and the Oil Price Information Service.
Diesel prices at the pump jumped to 4.119 dollars, also a record, setting the stage for higher prices on food and other goods transported by truck, ship and rail.
Source:Xinhua
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