March 06, 2008	Thursday	Safar 27, 1429

NEW YORK, March 5: Crude oil prices on Wednesday crossed $104 a barrel for the first time in the face of sliding US crude stockpiles, a plunging dollar and after Opec decided to maintain output levels.

New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, leapt $4.78 to $104.30 per barrel at 1705 GMT.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery soared $3.88 to trade at $101.40 a barrel.

Oil prices shot higher after the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) energy stockpiles report showed crude inventories tumbled by 3.1 million barrels last week. That confounded market expectations for a rise of 2.4 million barrels and was the first weekly drop for one and a half months.

In Vienna meanwhile, ministers from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries held output unchanged, as widely expected, at a daily production quota of 29.67 million barrels of oil.

A weak US currency encourages demand for dollar-priced commodities which become cheaper for buyers with stronger currencies, traders said.—AFP