Oil leapt to a record high for a third day on Monday, surpassing $93 as Mexico briefly halted one-fifth of its production and the U.S. dollar struck new lows.
U.S. crude, which hit a high of $93.20 a barrel earlier, was up 79 cents at $92.65 by 6:15 a.m. EDT. London Brent, which hit a record high $90, was up 71 cents at $89.40.
Oil prices have soared by more than a third since mid-August as a stand-off between Turkey and Kurdish rebels, dollar weakness, easing interest rates and winter supply fears attracted a fresh wave of investment capital.
Prices rose on Monday after Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said it was shutting about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil output due to bad weather in the Gulf of Mexico.
A spokesman said Pemex should be able to resume output immediately once the cold weather passed in two days. Mexico's three main export terminals were shut on Sunday.
The dollar hit another record low against a basket of currencies on expectations the Federal Reserve will trim interest rates this week and possibly again this year.
Central banks have poured billions of dollars into financial markets to ease a liquidity crisis. Much of that money has found its way into energy, commodities and emerging markets.
Gains in oil accelerated amid unusually heavy trade of 16,000 lots on the U.S. front-month contract, with some traders pointing to short-covering by options players or technical stop levels around the $93 a barrel mark.
(Reuters)