World oil prices briefly breached $81 a barrel this evening as traders digested sliding crude stockpiles in the US, a key energy consuming nation.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December spiked as high as $81.06 a barrel, before pulling back to stand at $80.17, up 57 cents from yesterday's close.
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery climbed 64 cents to $78.75 a barrel.
The US Department of Energy said today that American crude reserves sank by four million barrels in the week ending October 30. That confounded market expectations for a gain of 1.4 million barrels, according to analysts.
The department said there were also small drops in stockpiles of petrol and distillates, which include heating fuel and diesel.
In earlier trade today, oil prices had risen back above $80 in anticipation of the weekly US energy inventories report. However,analysts said prices were unlikely to hold above $80 owing to concerns about weak energy demand amid mixed signals on the state of the global economy.
Oil prices had already leapt yesterday as commodities gained a boost from gold futures, which have struck a series of record highs.
The price of gold surged to a record peaks today in the wake of the International Monetary Fund's massive sale of the precious metal to India. Oil and gold have surged in recent months amid a move away from the dollar, which has been slumping.
The move accelerated last month on a report that Gulf states may stop using the dollar for oil trading.
