NEW YORK — Crude futures rose to record levels on Friday, supported by worries over political tensions in the Middle East, where the U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran and Turkish troops remained massed at the Iraq border to counter Kurdish rebels.
In addition, the market was unsettled by a dawn attack on an oil vessel off the coast of Nigeria by anti-government militants and suggestions that oil shipments from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may not rise as quickly as expected.
The benchmark oil - light, sweet crude for December delivery - rose $1.40 to settle Friday at a record $91.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising overnight as high as $92.22, a new trading peak. Crude prices had jumped $3.36 a barrel on Thursday.
The impact of this latest oil high on gasoline prices won't be felt immediately, but prices still are rising because of a combination of late summer's climbing oil prices and refining and marketing factors. On Friday, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline inched 0.3 cent higher to $2.823 a gallon nationally, while the average was $2.727 in Arkansas, according to AAA.
For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Subscribers can read the story here on ArkansasOnline.