NEW YORK, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Crude futures surged and settled above 145 U.S. dollars a barrel for the first time Thursday after a rising dollar did not ease much of the investors' concern about supplies.

    Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 1.72 dollars to settle at a new record of 145.29 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In the early morning electronic trading the contract hit an all-time peak of 145.85 dollars a barrel.

    Oil's Thursday rally was believed to have been driven by Wednesday's report of a bigger-than-expected drop in the U.S. crude stockpiles and the lingering concerns about the tension in the Middle East.

    But the price hike eased after the dollar gained strongly against the euro. The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rate by a quarter point on Thursday. As the decision was long expected by the market, and the ECB played down prospect of further rate increase, the euro fell sharply against the dollar.

    In London, Brent crude for August delivery hit a record of 146.69 dollars a barrel before settling up 1.82 dollars at 146.08 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.