Crude oil climbs by $25 a barrel

WASHINGTON: The price of crude oil climbed by $25 per barrel Monday, the largest jump ever over worries of a weakened dollar prompted by US government plans to buy failing mortgages from the troubled finance industry.

The Bush administration is proposing a massive $700-billion to $800-billion plan to bailout the finance industry, which has been at the heart of the flailing US economy. The buyout has increased concerns about the federal government's growing budget deficit. The financial woes on Wall Street has boosted the appeal of commodities like oil.

"Gold, silver, oil, copper, just about any hard asset, is looking good at this point," Michael Fitzpatrick, vice president for energy risk management at MF Global Ltd in New York, told Bloomberg news. "With the dollar down and stocks getting hit, commodities look like a safe play."

The price of oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped by $25 to $130 a barrel, before settling at $120.92 , or a $16.37 increase for the day's trading.