Oil prices ease after hitting $100 a barrel

Oil prices eased Thursday after soaring briefly to a record $100 a barrel overnight on escalating violence in Africa's leading oil producer, a weaker U.S. dollar and a view that global demand for oil will outstrip supplies. Traders were awaiting the release of a weekly U.S. petroleum supply snapshot later Thursday, and some expected crude futures to breach the $100 a barrel level if the government reported crude inventories fell by more than expected, analysts said. "We're so close to $100 right now," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. more from business/finance »