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Oil surged to a record high on Tuesday on a weak U.S. dollar. New York's main oil futures contract, West Texas Intermediate for April delivery, closed up US$1.65 at a record $100.88 per barrel after hitting $101.15 during intraday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
London Brent crude for April delivery jumped $1.78 to $99.47 while the spot price of Dubai crude rose $0.06 to $92.27 per barrel.
Analysts attributed the oil price rally to the battered U.S. dollar, which sank to a record $1.4983 against the euro following a raft of gloomy U.S. economic data including weakening consumer confidence and rising inflation.
Meanwhile, South Korea's top refiner has decided to crank up its imports of Saudi crude by 50 percent starting in April. SK Energy plans to import a total of 135,000 barrels per day, or 49.27 million barrels per year, from state-run Saudi Aramco, up 47,000 barrels per day from the current 88,000.
SK Energy has had difficulty in securing a sufficient oil supply since Iraq suspended all crude exports to South Korea in protest of an exploration deal between Korean companies, including SK, and the Kurdish regional government.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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