Oil prices stayed near 13-year highs today to edge up towards $40 a barrel as traders remained wary of a possible sabotage attack on oil facilities in the volatile Middle East.
US light crude peaked at $39.78 a barrel during the Asian trading day, up 21 cents from yesterday's 13-year closing high of $39.57 a barrel. London Brent rose eight cents to $36.80 in opening trade. Prices have risen more than 6 per cent this week.
"I think we're going to have a four in front of the oil price very soon. It's certainly pretty ugly for the oil consumers of the world," said Mr David Thurtell, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
Worries over stable supplies from the Middle East, low stocks of gasoline in the United States and soaring demand in China have driven US crude prices towards the all-time record at $41.15 reached in October 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait in the crisis that led to the Gulf War.
Traders worry that weekend shootings at a Saudi Arabian petrochemicals plant and attempts a week earlier to bomb Iraq's key Basra oil export terminal might be precursors to a bigger attack on vital oil facilities in the Middle East, which pumps about one-third of global daily crude output.
US gasoline stocks remain 3.3 million barrels under levels at the same time last year and 5.6 million barrels below the five-year average for this time of year.
US gasoline consumption hits a peak in the summer vacation months between the end of May and September and is used as a barometer for overall demand in the world's biggest oil user.