Sam Fletcher
Senior Writer

In the biggest one-day gain ever, the July contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes shot to a record high of $139.12/bbl in intraday trading June 6 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing at a record $134.54/bbl, up a whopping $10.75 for the day.

Nervous traders attributed that jump to a statement by Israel's Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz that Israel will attack if Iran continues a program for developing nuclear weapons. But the crude contract had escalated more than $5/bbl June 5 when Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, said the bank might raise its interest rates.

Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix, Zug, Switzerland, blamed Trichet for triggering "a $16/bbl rally in slightly more than 24 hr." By setting in motion the biggest 2-day gain ever on NYMEX, Jakob said, "Trichet has managed what no war, no hurricanes, no OPEC [member] has ever managed to do." He said, "Oil fundamentals had recently started to reassert themselves with worries about demand destruction, but Trichet chased them away and re-invited financials to the party. The underlying oil fundamentals are, however, unchanged."