Oil Prices Gush to a New Record High
Wednesday, April 09, 2008SUSIE GHARIB: Oil prices surged to a new record today, topping $112 a barrel for the first time. By the close of trading in New York, May crude futures settled at $110.87 a barrel, up $2.37. In intra- day trading, crude futures traded as high as $112.16. The spike followed a government report showing oil and gasoline supplies were lower than expected last week. Oil analyst Eitan Bernstein of Friedman, Billings Ramsey says despite recent volatility, these record prices won't last.
EITAN BERNSTEIN, VP ENERGY RESEARCH, FRIEDMAN, BILLINGS, RAMSEY & CO.: What you've got crude oil prices rallying is fear of the unknown, supply concerns, China, OPEC demand growth. But we have some very real bearish headlines on U.S. economic growth, U.S. demand growth. And to the extent that that starts catching up with the fundamentals and ultimately with the traders, that could pull back on prices.
GHARIB: Bernstein predicts in the near term that oil prices will pull back to around $95 a barrel.





