Oil has jumped to a record high for a third day, surpassing $93 a barrel as Mexico briefly halted one-fifth of its production and the US dollar struck new lows.
US crude, which hit a high of $93.20 this morning, was up 56 cents at $92.42 this evening. London Brent, which hit a record high $90, was up 76 cents at $89.45.
Oil prices have soared by more than a third since mid-August as a stand-off between Turkey and Kurdish rebels, dollar weakness, easing interest rates and winter supply fears attracted a fresh wave of investment capital.
Prices rose again today after Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said it was shutting about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil output due to bad weather in the Gulf of Mexico.
A spokesman said Pemex should be able to resume output immediately once the cold weather passed in two days. Mexico's three main export terminals were shut on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the price of gold edged closer to $800 an ounce as it struck the highest level since the start of 1980 owing to the weak dollar and record high crude oil prices. On the London Bullion Market, gold prices surged as high as $794.70 an ounce, which was last seen in January 1980. Gold prices have jumped by about a third in value over the past year.
