Crude Oil Reaches a New Record of $62.20 a Barrel

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

rude oil prices soared to a record $62.20 a barrel Monday following reports of U.S. refinery capacity concerns and the death of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, news services reported.

The closing price receded to $61.57, a record closing price, which was up a dollar from Friday's closing price.

The previous record for benchmark light sweet crude oil futures had been $62.10, reached in intraday trading July 7, while the record closing price on the New York Mercantile Exchange had been $61.28, set July 6.

News reports cited potential political stability concerns about governance of Saudi Arabia after the death of King Fahd, who was born in 1923 and became the fifth king of Saudi Arabia in June 1982.

He will be succeeded by his half-brother, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who was born in 1924 and will be crowned King Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.

Adbullah has run many of the kingdom's day-to-day affairs since King Fahd suffered a stroke in 1995, news services reported.