Oil at $100 per barrel

[Bounty]

Oil has traded at $100 a barrel for the first time.

Violence in Nigeria and Algeria, the weak dollar and cold weather have all raised prices after the New Year break.

Reaction to the assassination of the former Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhuto, also contributed to the rising prices.

Light sweet crude for delivery in February rose $4.02 to trade at $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex).

But some analysts played down the relevance of passing the $100 mark.

"The entire focus on $100 oil is frivolous," said Tim Evans at Citigroup Futures Research in New York.

"It is not a magic number. It doesn't suddenly make this a fundamentally strong market."

Light trading

While daily price rises have been blamed on unrest in oil-supplying countries such as Nigeria, the real increase in demand has come from China and India.

Trading volumes were about half of their usual levels as traders returned from their New Year breaks, which may have exaggerated the effect of speculative transactions.

"I would imagine the speculators are the biggest drivers today," said Phil Flynn from Alaron Trading in Chicago.

The oil-producers' cartel Opec has also blamed speculators for the high price of crude and said that there is plenty of the fuel in the market to meet demand.

[Bounty]

Aaand I'm a minute too late. Lock please.

[Master of Ossus]

Locked.