Oil Surges to $100 a Barrel

Updated from 3:07 p.m. EST

Crude oil futures closed above $100 a barrel for the first time ever Tuesday, fueled by bullish momentum among traders and new problems in the U.S. refining space.

West Texas intermediate crude jumped $4.51, or nearly 5%, to settle at $100.01 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Reformulated gasoline was 11 cents higher at $2.60 a gallon, and heating oil was up 11 cents at $2.76 a gallon. Natural gas climbed 32 cents to $8.98 per million British thermal units.

Driving the advance in crude prices was a fire on Monday at Alon USA's(ALJ Quote) Big Spring, Texas, refinery. The fire, which left four employees injured, was extinguished, but all operations at the 67,000-barrel-per-day refinery have ceased. ...