The price of oil hit a new record high in trading on Wednesday, April 10, spiking above $112 dollars per barrel.

It closed at around $110 dollars a barrel Wednesday and was trading close to $111 dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange early Thursday.

An unexpectedly sharp drop in U.S. inventories and a further decline in the U.S. dollar are being blamed for the latest increase. At least one analyst told Thomson Financial News that the price could continue to go even higher – maybe as high as $120 dollars per barrel – in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, diesel prices were also on the rise, according to ProMiles. The national average for Thursday was posted at $4.02 a gallon, an all-time high. That’s up more than 2 cents from Wednesday’s average.

ProMiles also reported that 24 states are now posting average prices at or above the $4 dollar per gallon mark. The lowest price, incidentally, was in Oklahoma, at $3.83 per gallon.

– By Terry Scruton, staff writer
terry_scruton@landlinemag.com