Oil prices rose above $130 a barrel for the first time Wednesday in Asia as supply concerns mounted and the dollar weakened.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery swept to a trading record of $130.47 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange after closing at $128.98 in the floor session. It later retreated to $130.36 a barrel, up $1.38.
The June contract, which expired Tuesday, settled overnight at $129.07 a barrel.
The dollar had become less of a factor as attention turned to supply and demand concerns, but that seems to have changed this week.
“We’ve seen an about-face turn on the dollar in the last couple of days,” said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Bank in Melbourne. “It looked like it was starting to recover, but I think there’s a less certain outlook at the minute and … enough reason to be buying commodities as a currency hedge again.”
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