LONDON, June 11: Oil prices jumped more than $4 to above $136 a barrel on Wednesday after news that American crude reserves sank for the fourth week in a row. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, jumped $4.44 to $135.75 per barrel, after earlier reaching $136.80.

The contract had surged to a lifetime high of $139.12 last Friday, when it won a record-breaking $10.75 in one day’s trade.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Brent North Sea crude for July delivery rallied $3.84 to $133.64, after hitting a historic peak of $138.12 last Friday.

The US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday that American crude stockpiles dived 4.6 million barrels in the week ending June 6.

That was far heavier than market expectations for a drop of 1.5 million barrels and marked the fourth straight weekly fall.

Prices rallied on Wednesday as more details emerged about a meeting on June 22 of the world's biggest oil producers and consumers to discuss record-high crude prices.

Opec Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said that the meeting, to take place in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, will be at head-of-state level.—AFP