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Weak dollar pushes oil over $99 Graeme Wearden Oil moved within a whisker of the $100 a barrel mark this morning as fears over the state of the US economy weakened the dollar again. The price of a barrel of New York light sweet crude hit cleared $99 for the first time, peaking at $99.29 in Asian trading. London Brent Crude also hit a new high of $95.99 a barrel. This latest surge in the oil price was triggered by falls in the value of the US dollar, which hit a new low of $1.479 against the euro this morning. Yesterday the US Federal Reserve cut its growth targets for 2008, weakening the dollar and sending share prices lower on Wall Street.
Opec, the group of oil producing nations, has repeatedly insisted that supply problems are not responsible for the soaring oil price, blaming speculators. Petrol prices have been pushed steadily higher in recent weeks. The AA said this morning that the cost of a litre of petrol is rising by 0.1p per day, and is expected to hit an average of £1.02 today.
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