Oil prices powered ahead today on a robust market for heating oil in the United States, where cold weather and slim supplies have pumped fuel prices to record highs.
US April light crude futures were up 42 cents at an intraday high of $36.90 a barrel this morning, close to a 29-month peak of $37.55 struck last Thursday.
Analysts said most of crude's gains were driven by strong demand for heating - including heating oil and natural gas - in the US Northeast, buried under a massive snowstorm last week and set to experience continued below-average temperatures.
At the same time, fears of war in Iraq were underpinning the rally in oil prices.
March heating oil prices surged to a record high of $1.1655 a gallon after trading at a 23-year high of $1.15 yesterday.
Arctic temperatures have also sent US natural gas futures soaring to 25-month highs at $9.878 per million British thermal units.
