Oil prices surged past $125 per barrel Friday on the eve of the U.S. driving season as a weakening U.S. dollar drove investors to snap up commodities. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose as high as $125.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at midday before falling back to $124.86 by early afternoon in Europe. On Thursday, the contract rose to a record close of $123.69 a barrel. In London, Brent crude contracts also hit record highs before slipping and traded up $1.13 on the day at $123.97 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

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