In case you missed the news today, oil hit $100 a barrel on the NYMEX oil futures market today, for the first time. This was the price, briefly, for oil to be delivered in January 2008. Before the day ended the price dropped back to $99.62.

As I note in my Outlook for 2008, it is unlikely that oil prices will exhibit the old historical trend of falling way back from the current price records. Rather, the new floor price may stay in the $90 range.