Oil prices jumped nearly 3% past $97 a barrel today, bolstered by record weakness in the dollar and concerns over tight supply heading into winter.
New York light sweet crude rose $2.66 to $97.30 a barrel by 6pm, after hitting $97.50 earlier as heating oil futures set a record. London Brent rose $2.82 to $95.10 a barrel.
US oil is nearing the record $98.62 a barrel struck earlier this month on worries about supplies, a surge in speculative investment and the fall of the dollar against other currencies.
The dollar plumbed fresh lows against the euro on today on weak housing data and concerns that Middle East oil exporters may review dollar pegs to combat inflation.
OPEC decided not to increase its production following a rare meeting in Riyadh over the weekend with supplies tight ahead of the northern hemisphere winter season.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has been under pressure, in particular from the world's biggest energy user the US, to increase supply to help cool prices.
However, OPEC's final declaration on Sunday after the meeting urged world peace to help stabilise prices and included a commitment to help fight global warming.
OPEC, which pumps 40% of global crude supplies, last decided to raise output in September when the oil producers's cartel agreed to provide an extra 500,000 barrels a day to the market, effective from November 1.
US weekly crude inventories are expected to have risen by 1.2 million barrels as refiners import more oil to meet pre-winter demand, a preliminary Reuters poll found.
The data is also expected to show a 500,000-barrel drop in distillate inventories and an 800,000-barrel increase in gasoline stocks.
