Oil futures advanced to all-time peaks on Tuesday, supported by supply disruptions and speculation that the dollar may continue to trend lower. US light crude for May delivery rose 39 cents to $112.15 a barrel at 0634 GMT, after touching $112.48 a barrel, the highest level ever reached by US crude futures.
US futures are up 17 percent from the start of the year. London Brent crude rose 36 cents to $110.20 a barrel, after a record-high of $110.45 earlier in the session. "It has some self-fulfilling momentum at the moment," said David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
"But there are no specific new fundamental factors that should drive it higher from yesterday." Tetsu Emori, fund manager at Astmax Co Ltd said prices had risen due to automatically placed buying orders once the previous record had been breached. Emori sees the next resistance target at $115.00 a barrel.
Rising global crude oil demand, such as from rapidly growing China, has put oil in tight supply and driven its rally. The advance has been helped by a low dollar and investment flows from hedge and pension funds into commodities and oil. But that is balanced against increasing worries that an economic slowdown that mean a sharp drop in US and world demand for commodities.
Underlining supply fears, Mexico - one of the top exporters to the US market - kept its three main crude oil exporting ports in the Gulf of Mexico shut on Monday due to bad weather.