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LONDON, Aug 11: World oil prices rocketed to historic peaks as high as 66 dollars on Thursday, owing to huge speculative buying, sky-high global demand and continued refinery outages in the US, analysts said.
The International Energy Agency meanwhile singled out low spare production capacity in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as a major factor behind soaring prices.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, hit a record 66 dollars per barrel, and has now risen almost 3.70 dollars in less than a week. It later stood at 65.55 dollars, up 65 cents on Wednesday’s close.
The price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in September meanwhile soared to a new record high of 65.66 dollars per barrel, before trading at 65 dollars — a rise of 1.01.
“The market is just continuing to try and pass new highs all the time, Global Insight analyst Simon Wardell said.
