WTI rises to near $110 per barrel

Crude oil prices hit yet another record high on Tuesday when it rose to $109.72 per barrel in New York.

By the end of the floor session on the New York Mercantile Exchange, April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude was 86 cents over Monday’s close to $108.76 per barrel, while Brent crude was up $1.02 to $105.18 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London after going as high as $105.82 earlier in the session.

The International Energy Agency cut its demand forecast again, and some analysts said that oil prices are bound to decline, as they are not supported by fundamentals.

Meanwhile, statements from Dana Perino, press secretary to US President George W. Bush, gave little hope for help on oil prices from the government.

Nymex April gasoline and heating oil each were down 1 cent, to $2.70 per gallon and $2.97 per gallon respectively, while April heating oil dropped 4 cents to $9.98 per million British thermal units.