Oil Closes In on $100

Crude oil prices got the closest they've ever been to $100 a barrel in overnight trading before pulling back just a bit.

Still, the century mark again appears to be on the verge of being crossed, especially if inventory data due out at 10:30 a.m. EST are bullish.

Crude for January delivery reached a high of $99.29 in electronic trading, but lately, the near-term futures contract was up 38 cents from the last settlement to $98.41 a barrel.

On Tuesday, oil finished above $98 for the first time, ending at $98.03. A recent run has lifted crude after it retreated back toward $90 a barrel last week. Should the weekly numbers from the Energy Department later in the morning show tight supplies, $100 on the light sweet crude contract could become reality.

Meanwhile, both heating oil and reformulated gasoline were fractionally higher early Wednesday. Natural gas was down 3 cents at $7.44 per million British thermal units.

Among energy stocks, Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote) was down 0.4% at $87.50 in premarket trading. Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A Quote) was tacking on 0.7% at $82.75.

Chevron (CVX Quote) was slipping 0.5% to about $87. BP (BP Quote) was easing 0.3% at $71.59, and Valero (VLO Quote) was off 0.3% at $66.50.