Crude oil futures surge above $70 per barrel, on weak dollar and production cut

 2008-11-05 05:58:22  

    NEW YORK, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) --

Crude oil futures surged above US $70  a barrel Tuesday on weak dollar and Saudi Arabia's move to cut production.

    Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose 6.62 dollars to settle at 70.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as 71.77 dollars.

    The Commerce Department reported that U.S. factory orders fell 2.5 percent in September from August, much worse than analysts had predicted. On Monday the Institute for Supply Management reported U.S. manufacturers contracted more than analysts expected in October, the worst reading in 26 years.

    However, commodities such as oil, gold all surged Tuesday as investors flooded to futures market while the greenback plunged on Election Day.

    Crude futures also soared on reports that Saudi Arabia, the world largest oil producer, had cut around 900,000 barrel per day from its peak in August. In addition to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, other OPEC members were also showing signs of cutting output.

    Oil prices got boost from stock market as Wall Street rallied more than 3 percent Tuesday ahead of the U.S. election result.

    In London, December Brent crude rose 5.96 dollars to settle at 66.44 dollars on the ICE Futures exchange.

Editor: Yan