Business

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Visa, Las Vegas 5/8/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008 Oil hits $124 a barrel on supply issues Associated Press NEW YORK -- Oil futures rose to a new record near $124 a barrel Wednesday after the Energy Department reported an unexpected drop in diesel and heating oil supplies last week. At the pump, gas prices rose for the first time since last week. Light, sweet crude for June delivery hit a new record of $123.80 in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before retreating slightly to trade up $1.75 at $123.59 a barrel. The department's Energy Information Administration said in a weekly report that distillate fuels, which include diesel and heating oil, fell unexpectedly while gasoline demand rose slightly last week. Traders chose to focus on those numbers and shrug off crude inventories, which rose much more than analysts predicted, and gasoline supplies, which increased when analysts forecast a decline. "We've got heating oil pulling up the complex," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill. June heating oil futures rose 9.44 cents to $3.4479 a gallon after earlier rising to a new trading record of $3.4524. Earlier, oil prices waffled as traders were torn between relief that crude and gasoline supplies are rising versus worries about rising demand and falling distillate stockpiles. But the fact that prices didn't decline sharply signaled to some investors that the market was poised to rally, analysts said. "It shows you that this market ... at times just ignores bearish news," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. Oil prices didn't react to the dollar, either, after it strengthened against the euro. The dollar's protracted decline against the euro and other foreign currencies has played a major role in oil's rise by attracting investors looking for a hedge against inflation. When the dollar reverses course and strengthens, the effect usually reverses, sending oil prices lower. At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of regular gas rose Wednesday for the first time since last week, adding 0.8 cent to $3.618, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

1. Man blackmailed ex-girlfriend with nude pictures, police say 2. Snohomish motorcyclist dies in collision with pickup 3. Police looking for man who held up Everett pharmacy 4. Friends plan auction, hope to save woman's home 5. Sheriff warns of Camano Island burglar 6. Arlington private school principal charged with child rape 7. 400 open houses across the county this weekend 8. Man guilty for posing as trooper 9. Cama Beach cabins a quiet, cozy delight 10. LITTLE LEAGUE: Mill Creek reaches state semifinals 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Try for Olympics highlights Games' debut • Proper ball position important to set up • Sports Briefs • Richmond Little League at state majors tournament • Fewer sports fields could go into Hamlin Park • Taxpayers to Stevens' rescue? • Terrace hires new police chief • Torched!: Three fires blamed on weed torches • Juveniles arrested in burglary spree • Arlington Fly-In marks 40th anniversary this year • Melody Biringer a wide-ranging entrepreneur • County home market offers low rates, lower prices, wide variety of prope ... • Good investments may be boring but profitable • Fryelands industrial park growing in Monroe • Out of the Blue Aviation expands flight training • Paul Allen’s rare Flying Heritage Collection becomes latest aviation att ... • Warbird's history keeper