LONDON: Oil prices soared to another record high above US$90 (K271.04) per barrel last Friday amid global supply jitters and tensions between Turkey and crude producer Iraq, dealers said.
New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, touched US$90.07 (K271.295) per barrel in early afternoon deals. That beat the previous high of US$90.02 (K271.145) set late last Thursday.
The contract later retreated to stand at US$88.59 (K266.837), down US$0.88 from last Thursday’s close.
On Friday, London’s Brent North Sea crude for December delivery slid US$0.73 to US$83.87 (K252.62) after hitting a record US$84.88 (K255.66) on Thursday.
“Persistent geopolitical fears provide good support to oil prices,” analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov at the Sucden brokerage in London said.
Last week, red hot crude prices blazed a record-breaking trail as Turkey has moved closer towards a military incursion into northern Iraq - where many of the troubled country’s largest oil fields are based.
“The petroleum markets are seeing some short-term profit taking,” Citigroup analyst Tim Evans added, in reference to last Friday’s narrow losses.
Iraq’s Kurds vowed to fight off any attack on their region as pressure mounted in Baghdad and Washington for action against Kurdish rebels to stave off a potential Turkish incursion.
The market was also fretting over the falling US dollar. A weak greenback makes commodities priced in the US unit cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies and therefore boosts crude demand, analysts say.
In last Friday morning trade, the European single currency hit a fresh record high at US$1.4319.
Prices were “still underpinned by a weakening dollar and tight fuel supplies ahead of the winter heating season,” Kryuchenkov added.
Demand for heating fuel hits a peak during the northern hemisphere winter and supplies are widely expected to tighten. – AFP