The Brent crude oil price spiked to a three-and-a-half-year high of US$35 a barrel Friday as markets worried that US gasoline stocks were running low.
Tensions in the Middle East added to the pressure.
Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in June touched US$35 a barrel before closing at US$34.48, up US$0.10 from Thursday. New York's light sweet crude June contract rose US$0.07 to US$37.38.
"Large concerns about US gasoline are continuing to produce higher prices," Prudential Bache broker Tony Machacek said in London.
Traders were worried about a possible shortage of gasoline supplies as Americans prepared to take to the roads for summer vacations.
Unleaded gasoline for delivery in May rose US$0.0023 to a new record of US$1.2467 a gallon.
At the pump, prices were stuck at a record high US$1.812 a gallon of unleaded for two straight days, according to the latest survey by the motorists' organization AAA.
"There are also terrorist worries worldwide which continue to have a very important influence," Machacek said.
Traders were nervous about going into the weekend with insufficient oil in their portfolios, said Chicago-based AG Edwards analyst Bill O'Grady.
"There are still worries about the Middle Eastern threats [to oil supplies]," he added.
"There is a premium in case something goes badly in the Middle East."
Higher oil prices could find further support from OPEC, after officials hinted at the possibility of expanding the cartel's official price band.
A move to tamper with the band, currently between US$22 and US$28, would be seen as a signal that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries welcomes the current rise in prices, analysts said.
In theory, OPEC should boost output when prices climb above US$28 for a certain period of time and limit production if they fall below US$22.
Yet despite rising prices, OPEC recently decided to cut production by 2.5 million barrels a day as of April 1.
OPEC meanwhile maintains that the spurt in prices reflects speculation and geopolitical tension rather than a shortage of oil on the market.
The idea of raising the cartel's price band was first floated earlier in the week by OPEC president Purnomo Yusgiantoro.
He said OPEC could consider expanding the band by four dollars to take account of a weak dollar, which cuts into dollar-denominated oil revenues earned by OPEC producers.
On Thursday, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah Al-Attiya said OPEC would likely review the four-year-old band at an informal meeting during an international oil summit in Amsterdam on May 21.
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