Possibility of supply disruptions has raised oil prices to a record high. Prices for US light, sweet crude oil have reached $117.48.
Major causes for recent oil price hike:
- High demand from rapidly developing countries like India and China.
- Falling dollar value.
- Reluctance of oil producing countries to increase production.
- Recent militant attack on pipelines in Nigeria. This resulted in a decrease in oil production.
- A Japanese oil tanker lost thousands of gallons of fuel after it was attacked off the coast of Yemen.
- Grangemouth, one of the largest refineries in the UK is expecting closure due to worker strike.
