Oil reaches new overnight record of $103

Oil prices have come down from their latest overnight record of $103 thanks to the greenback recovering some of the ground it lost and military incursions in Turkey and Northern Iraq easing tensions a little. Since February there has been an almost 20% rise in oil prices, mainly due to the weak U.S economy and tensions in the Middle East. The news is welcome relief after the price almost reached the highest point in history during the 1980's Iranian hostage crisis which saw oil reaching $103.76 a barrel (adjusted for inflation).

While many analysts believe the declines in oil prices are only temporary and that speculative buying will push the price of oil higher, other analysts are saying that the prices have reached a critical point and could crash back to pre-February prices, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, gasoline and diesel prices continue to rise quickly with gas rising 0.3 cents overnight and and diesel jumping by 1.5 cents to a new U.S. record of $3.64 per gallon. Fuel prices aren't the only thing set to increase as oil becomes more expensive - almost every type of manufacturing process and product transport process requires gasoline meaning that there could be an increase in prices across the board, which would increase inflation and lower the value of the dollar.