Crude oil prices closed in on 100 dollars a barrel Wednesday after striking fresh record highs on global supply concerns, traders said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, hit an historic peak of 98.62 dollars per barrel. It later stood at 98.00 dollars, up 1.30 dollars.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery hit a record high of 95.19 dollars. It later stood at 94.52 dollars, up 1.26 dollars.
"The flood of speculative cash pouring into oil has resulted in a breach of 100 dollars a barrel very much on the cards for today," said Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris.
The fresh records came as the dollar hit a new all-time low against the euro and amid expectations of more falls in US energy reserves, traders said.
"It's a crazy market. People just want to get more money and are betting on the upside," said Tetsu Emori, an analyst with Astmax in Tokyo.
A weak dollar can make oil more affordable for buyers using other currencies.
In Wednesday trade, the euro raced to an all-time high of 1.4704 dollars.
Traders were also betting on a further decline in US crude reserves ahead of the northern hemisphere winter, when demand for heating fuel is expected to shoot higher.
"The US crude stocks data is set to reflect the failure of Mexican imports to arrive in the US due to bad weather, further heightening fears of a tight winter market," said Harris of the Bank of Ireland.
"In Europe, Brent crude is set to follow the US contract and push through 96 dollars on release of the data," he added.
The US Department of Energy is to release Wednesday its energy reserves report for the week ended November 2. Crude supplies fell in the previous two weekly reports.
The consensus forecast is for US crude reserves to have fallen by 1.7 million barrels following recent disruptions to Mexican output.
On Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration said "global oil markets will likely remain stretched" because world oil demand has grown much faster than oil supply outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
That had put pressure on OPEC and inventories to bridge the gap, it said, adding that geopolitical risks, tight inventories in rich countries and worldwide refining bottlenecks were set to keep crude oil prices high and volatile.
