Energy Sector Roundup: Oil flirts with $143

Crude Breaks Out to Settle at New High

Oil futures climbed to a new record near $143 a barrel as the dollar weakened against the euro, confirming expectations that the falling greenback, a major factor in crude's stratospheric rise, will extend its decline and add to oil's appeal.

Retail gas prices inched lower overnight, but are likely to resume their own trek into record territory now that oil futures have broken out of the trading range where they had been for nearly 3 weeks.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose as high as $142.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before pulling back sharply in a spate of late-day profit-taking to settle up 57 cents at a record $140.21.

In other Nymex trading, July gasoline futures fell 1.01 cents to settle at $3.5012 a gallon after earlier rising to a trading record of $3.585. July heating oil futures lost 2.32 cents to settle at $3.9066 a gallon. August natural gas futures gave up 5 cents to settle at $13.198 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Refiners Hammered by Oil Price Surge

Shares of petroleum refiners hit new 52-week lows as the price of crude oil surged.

Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Corp., Sunoco Inc., Holly Corp. and Frontier Oil Corp. all hit new lows in morning trading before regaining some ground.

Refiners' margins have been squeezed by rising crude prices and falling demand for refined products such as gasoline and diesel.