The price of oil flirted with a new all-time record in New York this evening, hitting $55.65 a barrel on worries about sustained demand and a cold snap that has hit the eastern US.
Market data initially showed the April contract for light sweet crude had traded at a record of $55.70 a barrel. But the New York Mercantile Exchange later corrected its data and said the trade never took place.
The price for the benchmark light sweet crude came within a whisker of the all-time record in October of $55.67 a barrel at one stage this evening.
Shortly afterwards, the price had dipped to $55.30 a barrel, which was a rise of 71 cents from the prior day's close.
Meanwhile, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil broke through $54 a barrel in London today for the first
time in its history.
The price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in April rocketed $1.21 to $54.05 a barrel in late London trades. That exceeded the previous record of $53.36, set during earlier trade today.
The surge in oil prices came in spite of a greater-than-expected increase in US crude inventories, dealers said.
High prices are currently being supported by strong global demand, tensions between the US and Iran, next week's OPEC meeting and the closure of a Norwegian oil platform.
World oil prices have now more than doubled since early 2002. Adjusted for inflation, however, they remain far below levels reached in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution when prices surged to upwards of $80 a barrel in today's money.
Meanwhile, inventories of US crude oil rose sharply over the past week, government and private surveys showed today.
Crude oil supplies rose 3.2 million barrels to 302.6 million in the week ended March 4, the Department of Energy said in its weekly report.
A separate report by the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil stocks jumped by 6.25 million barrels to 304.30 million barrels. The two reports frequently differ in their estimates.
Reserves of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, dropped 800,000 barrels to 109.2 million, the DoE said, as a cold wave heightened demand for heating oil. The API survey, however, showed a rise of 239,000 barrels of distillates to 114.52 million barrels.
Stocks of petrol dipped by 200,000 barrels in the past week to 224.3 million, according to DoE. The API reported a drop of 269,000 barrels of petrol to 223.59 million barrels.
Analysts had been expecting a rise in US crude oil stocks of about 1.7 million barrels and a drawdown of distillates and gasoline.
