Oil prices hit record highs in Asian trade yesterday with the benchmark New York contract rising to US$61.63 a barrel at one stage as tropical storms threatened US production in the Gulf of Mexico, dealers said.
At 3:30pm, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, was at US$61.51, up US$0.23 from its record close of US$61.28 in the US on Wednesday. The previous closing high was US$60.54 set on June 27.
The contract earlier touched US$61.63, topping the previous intra-day high of US$61.35 set in New York on Wednesday.
Heightened concerns over possible supply disruption after tropical storms disrupted US crude production in the Gulf of Mexico drove the benchmark contract higher, dealers said.
"The main driver now is the tropical storms," said Mark Pervan, a commodities analyst with Daiwa Securities in Melbourne, Australia.
"Investors are jittery, concerned about supply disruptions," Pervan said.
The onset of tropical storms Cindy and Dennis has forced the evacuation of 96 platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the shutdown of one-tenth of US crude production in the area, according to the US government.
This equates to 12.7 percent of daily oil production in the region, which is currently about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), it said.
Apart from the tropical storms, persistent concerns that refineries may struggle to meet demand during the fourth quarter when the northern hemisphere winter season begins will keep prices above US$61, Pervan said.
"There is no real key resistance level at the moment," Pervan said. "It could get to US$62, US$63 with no major selling pressure."
Trading could also be volatile ahead of the US government's weekly report on crude inventories in the country, dealers said.
The report is normally released on Wednesday but was pushed back to yesterday owing to the Independence Day holiday on Monday.
The Department of Energy reported last week that crude oil reserves in the US, the world's biggest oil consumer, rose by 1.1 million barrels to 328.5 million barrels in the week ended June 24.
Gasoline inventories climbed 300,000 barrels to 216.2 million and distillates including heating fuel increased by 1.7 million barrels to 113.2 million.
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