Crude Crosses $146-A-Barrel Over Rising Demand

New York, NY (AHN) - A light sweet crude barrel for August delivery jumped to more than $146-a-barrel in electronic trading on Thursday.

Oil futures jumped to an intraday record high of $146.34 a barrel, after they moved up by $1.77 at $146.03 in morning trade, pushing the oil prices by 55 percent since the start of this year.

Over the past 12 months, oil rates have gone up by 80 percent, pushing gasoline prices along with goods and food rates as the U.S. economy deals with rising risks of steep inflation.

After breaching $146 a barrel, Brent North Sea oil for August delivery soared to a life-time high of 146.69 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The contract surged by $2.60 to $143.57 a barrel in New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday pulling down the U.S. markets in the previous trading session.

With the rising oil prices, shares of automobile and airline sectors also tumbled. The companies are being forced to cut down their earnings outlook and increase debts due to the untamable oil rates and rising inflation aftermaths.

In currency trading, the yen changed hands at 106.07 yen per U.S. dollar in Asia. In late New York on late Wednesday, the Japanese currency was at 106.115 yen against the dollar.

The 15-nation euro changed hands at $1.5883, moving down slightly, compared to $1.5888 late Wednesday.

The Energy Department said in a report on Wednesday that U.S. oil stockpiles have declined by 15 percent compared to the inventories from last year after dropping 1.98 million barrels to 299.8 million last week

The rally in energy prices continued during the week, raising warnings for the eleven leading oil consumers as the global economies weaken due to subprime mortgage turmoil in the U.S. markets.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi expressed concerns over the rising prices in Madrid on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia raised its oil production by 300,000 barrels a day in May, and oil industry delegates confirmed they would add another 200,000 barrels a day to July production.