Oil Stakes Another Claim: $135

Crude oil futures are moving higher in a volatile trading session at the New York Mercantile Exchange but have backed off considerably from their record intraday high above $135 a barrel.

West Texas crude was last trading up 62 cents at $133.79 a barrel, and Brent crude was gaining $1.06 a barrel.

Reformulated gasoline is adding a cent to $3.40 a gallon, while heating oil is up 8 cents at $3.99 a gallon. Near-term natural gas is off 3 cents at $11.62 per million British thermal units.

Crude's early breakout above $135 a barrel was prompted partly by a story onThe Wall Street Journal's Web site that reported the International Energy Agency is preparing to lower its projections for global crude oil supplies.

However, U.S. dollar strength in today's session is stymieing crude oil's skyward momentum. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the value of a basket of currencies, is adding 0.42% to 72.20.

Energy stocks are currently mixed. BP (BP Quote - Cramer on BP - Stock Picks)is up 1.6% at $77.29, and Conoco (COP Quote - Cramer on COP - Stock Picks)is fractionally lower at $102.83. Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote - Cramer on XOM - Stock Picks) is 0.3% lower at $93.36 a share.

Among exploration companies, Apache (APA Quote - Cramer on APA - Stock Picks)is 0.5% higher at $145.54, and Chesapeake (CHK Quote - Cramer on CHK - Stock Picks)is down a hair at $55.61.

The U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO Quote - Cramer on USO - Stock Picks), an exchange-traded fund that tracks WTI futures contracts, is down 0.2% at $108.07.