Oil touches $100 a barrel as Libya standoff worsens

Joshua Schneyer
Reuters
February 23, 2011

Oil surged to a 28-month high of $100 a barrel on Wednesday as escalating violence in OPEC producer Libya slashed output there and investors bet the unrest could spread to other oil exporters.

Brent has posted the biggest three-day gain since October 2009, rising to as much as $111.85 a barrel. That marked its highest since October 2008, shortly after the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

U.S. crude has shot up more than 15 percent since Friday.

West Texas Intermediate futures rose 3.7 percent to $99 a barrel as of 1:37 p.m. EST in New York, paring some earlier gains. Brent gave up some of its earlier advance to trade up 5.1 percent at $111.18.

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This article was posted: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 2:34 pm

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