Oil prices eased slightly today after setting a new record above $80 a barrel last night.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery lost 26 cents to $79.65 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract had been as high as 80.18 US dollars a barrel on Wednesday before settling at a record close of $79.91 a barrel.
Although the price hike is not yet being felt on the forecourts, the cost of petrol is likely to surge within four to six weeks.
Oil hit the record price on fears over supply, despite oil producer cartel Opec pledging to boost output by 500,000 barrels a day.
Oil analysts said Opec's move was not enough to meet the strong demand expected over the winter. The recent advance has been also due to speculative buying by big investment funds.
The current stock market turmoil, outages at some oil refineries in the US and rising demand for oil from countries such as China has added to the concerns over supply and price increases, according to experts.
