Oil surges past $83

NEW YORK (AP) — Crude oil prices surged further into record terrain Thursday, breaching $83 a barrel as the weak dollar and last week’s decline in U.S. oil inventories spurred buying of futures.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery gained $1.39 to settle at $83.32 a barrel on the Nymex, where it had settled at a record $81.93 a barrel on Wednesday. Crude rose as high as $83.90 in intraday trading Thursday.

Gasoline futures jumped as well.

Oil prices have risen to records in seven straight sessions on the New York Mercantile Exchange on a mix of concerns about falling supplies and tight demand. But many analysts also blame an influx of speculative “nontraditional” capital into energy commodities. And that inflow increases when the dollar falls, analysts say.

Addison Armstrong, an analyst with TFS Energy Futures LLC, wrote in a research note that oil is rising due to weakness in the dollar, which has fallen to a record low against the euro, and is also trading at multi-year lows against other currencies.

CNN