Oil above $108 breaks 30-month high

Oil pricesClick chart for oil and other commodity prices. By Annalyn Censky, staff reporter


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil prices breached a 30-month high Monday, as investors continued to cheer a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market.

Investors welcomed Friday's jobs report as a positive sign that demand for fuel could pick up, as the economic recovery pushes forward.

Crude oil for May delivery fell 53 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $108.47 a barrel Monday -- its highest close since September 2008. The contract traded as high as $108.78 earlier in the session.

Brent crude, Europe's benchmark, rose $2.30, or 1.9%, to $121 a barrel.

Oil has been on a rally since mid-February, when protests broke out in Libya -- Africa's third-largest oil producer. Investors have been concerned that uprisings in the Middle East could spread to even larger oil producers, like Saudi Arabia, and limit supply coming from the region.

Over the weekend, Nigerian officials announced they will push parliamentary elections back a week, following violent uprisings in the country. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer.

Analysts estimate turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East is adding a $15 to $20 risk premium to oil prices.

"The real price of oil is probably somewhere around $90," said John Canally, investment strategist at LPL Financial. "But with Libya, now Nigeria, and just general unrest, traders are nervous about supply disruptions -- so oil stays high."

Meanwhile, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have since kept on investors even more on edge.

As the world's third-largest economy recovers from the disaster and subsequent nuclear crisis, some analysts predict Japan will increase its demand for oil, sending crude prices even higher.

Despite all the turmoil, money managers surveyed by CNNMoney expect oil prices to ease from their recent highs, and average out to $97 a barrel by year's end.

Meanwhile, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose to $3.662 Monday, up 1.7 cents from the day before, according to a daily survey from motorist group AAA. Gas prices have risen for 13 days in a row and are now about 45 cents shy of the record $4.114 reached in July 2008. To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.