Oil in the News

Another CNN article, this one about the price of oil. As always, full article at the link.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Crude oil prices rose to a new record high above $113 a barrel Tuesday as the U.S. dollar weakened further against the euro.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to a new trading high of $113.93 a barrel in early morning electronic trading. The previous high of $112.21 was set April 9.

Oil settled at a record closing high of $111.76 a barrel on Monday.

"The path to $115 is cleared," said Stephen Schork, publisher of the oil trading newsletter The Schork Report.

Ringing dollar bell

The latest surge in crude prices is partly due to weakness in the U.S. dollar, analysts said. As the dollar has dropped versus the euro, many investors have flocked to commodities such as oil and gold to preserve the value of their assets.

"Those Pavlovian dogs are barking. Until someone breaks them out of that paradigm, they're going to keep trading that way," said Schork.

The euro bought $1.5865 early Tuesday, up from $1.5808 the previous session. The euro hit an all-time high against the dollar last Thursday.

Traders are also trying to get ahead of rising demand for crude as refineries finish their maintenance cycles and begin gearing up for fuel production over the next few months, Schork said.