Rising unrest in oil-producing countries in North Africa and the
Middle East has propelled crude prices in recent weeks to their highest levels
since 2008, prompting Paddy Power punters to bet that $200 per barrel will be a
reality soon.
Oil was trading at $113.31 per barrel at 1621 GMT on Tuesday.
"Three years ago we saw the same gamble when there were
fears oil would break $200," a spokeswoman for Paddy Power, which has
businesses in Britain, Australia and Ireland, said on Tuesday.
"It never did reach $200 in 2008 ... But this time around
the odds on such an occurrence are half what they were."
Brent crude hit an all-time high of $147.50 on July 11, 2008
before slumping below $40 less than six months later as the global financial
crisis weighed on energy demand.
In June 2008, Paddy Power's odds of the benchmark European crude
price hitting $200 by the end of 2008 were six to one.
The bookmaker opened its new book for crude to hit $200 about 12
days ago following requests from customers and has taken 62 bets on it since,
mostly from British gamblers.
Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday on news OPEC might boost
production to dampen prices.
