NEW YORK — Crude oil prices briefly soared to $100 a barrel yesterday for the first time, reaching that milestone amid an unshakable view that global demand for oil and petroleum products will outstrip supplies.

Surging economies in China and India fed by oil and gasoline have sent prices soaring over the past year, while tensions in oil-producing nations such as Nigeria and Iran have increasingly made investors nervous and invited speculators to drive prices even higher.

Violence in Nigeria helped give crude the final push to $100. Bands of armed men on Tuesday invaded Port Harcourt, the center of Nigeria's oil industry, attacking two police stations and raiding the lobby of a major hotel. Word that several Mexican oil export ports were closed because of rough weather added to the gains, as did a report that OPEC may not be able to meet its share of global oil demand by 2024.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose $4.02 to $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to Brenda Guzman, a Nymex spokeswoman, before slipping back to settle at a record close of $99.62, up $3.64.

Oil prices are within the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today.

The White House said yesterday it would not release oil from the nation's strategic reserves to drive prices lower.

"This president would not use the (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) to manipulate (prices) unless there was a true emergency," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.

As of early November, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve contained 694 million barrels of oil. The government is working to fill it to its capacity of 727 million barrels.

Among the solutions to high prices are expanding domestic oil and gas production and increasing the nation's refining capacity, Energy Department spokeswoman Megan Barnett said.

Crude prices, which have flirted with $100 for months, have risen in recent days on supply concerns exacerbated by Turkish attacks on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and falling domestic inventories. However, post-holiday trading volumes were about 50 percent of normal yesterday, meaning the price move was likely exaggerated by speculative buying.

"I would imagine the speculators are the biggest drivers today," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., in Chicago.

At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices rose 0.6 cent yesterday to a national average of $3.049 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices, which typically lag behind the futures market, have edged higher in recent days, following oil's approach to $100.

Gas prices peaked at $3.227 a gallon in May as refiners faced unprecedented maintenance issues and struggled to produce enough gasoline to meet demand. A similar scenario is expected in the spring, when gas prices could peak above $3.40 a gallon, according to the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.

The EIA's inventory report, delayed until today because of the New Year's holiday, also is expected to show gains in gasoline supplies and refinery activity, and a decline in supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel.

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