Oil hits record $100 a barrel

Typography

Fresh buying at the new year was also cited as helping lift the oil futures complex.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures hit a record $100 a barrel on Wednesday, surging more than $4 as violence in OPEC members Nigeria and Algeria combined with a weak dollar and a cold snap to boost crude futures.

Fresh buying at the new year was also cited as helping lift the oil futures complex.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:17 p.m. EST, February crude was up $2.67 or 2.78 percent at $98.65 a barrel, trading from $96.05 to $100.00, a record front-month high, eclipsing the previous record of $99.29 hit November 21.

(Reporting by Robert Gibbons)

!ADVERTISEMENT!