LONDON, Nov 6: The price of Brent crude oil struck an historic peak of $92.36 per barrel in trading here on Tuesday on concerns over tight global energy supplies.

That beat a previous high of $92.31, struck on Monday.

New York light sweet crude had hit an all-time peak of $96.24 per barrel last Thursday.

With traders on edge about falls to US energy inventories ahead of the northern hemisphere winter, when demand for heating fuel peaks, market focus was on the latest weekly snapshot of American crude oil reserves due on Wednesday.

“If the inventory figures are bad again then it (New York crude) could push up to around the $97 level,” said CMC Markets trader Nas Nijjar.

“It still feels as though there will be a test of the $100 level.

We’re not seeing any large sellers in this market.” After striking a new record high, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery stood at $92.05 per barrel, up $1.56.

New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, surged $1.69 to $95.67 per barrel.“Despite concerns about a potential slowdown in energy consumption and a slower global economic growth, there is still plenty of support to crude prices and, especially with US fuel inventories running low ahead of winter,” Sucden analyst Michael Davies said.

World oil prices had fallen on Monday as traders took profits.

Analysts said easing supply concerns owing to expectations of reduced demand because of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and the calming of tensions between Turkey and Iraq had been the trigger for the selling.

“What we can expect going forward is extreme volatility in the oil market, driven by profit-taking and traders buying back positions,” Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz, said on Tuesday.

“But the overall market sentiment is still bullish and prices appear to be on an uptrend towards the $100 mark. If we have a combination of a drawdown in inventories and a cold spell in the US, that could cause a surge in pricing,” he added.—AFP