Crude closes at record high in New York

Crude oil prices rose again to a new record at the close in New York, with gains coming on a report from the Federal Reserve in which it lowered its expectations for the economy this year, which in turn raised expectations that more interest rates are coming.

March contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude, which expire at the end of the day, added 73 cents to trade at $100.74 per barrel.

The price of a barrel of crude oil earlier touched $101.32.

Nymex March gasoline, however dropped 2 cents to $2.58 per gallon while April heating oil was down 1 cent to $2.75 per gallon and April natural gas fell 4 cents to $8.95 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, at-the-pump prices for gasoline in the United States added 2 cents overnight to $3.05 per gallon on average nationally, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service, while the US Energy Department said that pump prices rose 8.2 cents in the past week.