Oil prices have finally overcome the landmark psychological barrier and reached the level of $100.01 per barrel in New York yesterday. The price marked the new all-time record of the oil market and exceeded its previous record of January 3 by one cent. The decline of the dollar rate and a possible reduction of OPEC’s oil output seriously affected the fuel cost

Crude oil prices dropped to lowest levels in more than a month Friday, falling below $89 a barrel.

Crude oil futures went up due to an increase in supplies at the Nymex delivery terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma, which is closely watched by traders as a benchmark of oil inventory tightness.

Oil prices will jump to $200 a barrel if the US invades Iran, which would cut off supply, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said. "If the US happens to invade Iran, oil will not just reach $100, but $200 per barrel," Chavez said. "Not one drop of oil will leave Iran" in an invasion. "The same would happen here," as the people of the country will halt exports, he said.

$1.6 trillion (EUR1.1 trillion) – this is the cost of Iraq and Afghanistan wars - roughly double the amount the White House has requested thus far, the U.S. Congress' Joint Economic Committee said.

Energy importers must set aside dreams of energy independence to work out their differences in the face of rising oil prices.

US exports reached a record $140bn in September, powered by Prairie grains, Texas cotton, semiconductors, chemicals, even cars. "I put the US economy up against any in the world in terms of competitiveness - that's a fact," said US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

An offshore oil discovery and promising fields near the find could make Brazil to become one of the world's major exporters, but full-scale extraction is unlikely until 2013 and will be very expensive.

Today lots of experts speak about the weakness of the US economy. There are plenty of analytical materials about the advantages of the emerging markets at the same time. These contradictions raise the question: can the global economy survive a major US slowdown?