Oil rose towards $88 a barrel this morning to extend a rally that has added eight dollars in as many days.
At 9.50am US crude was up $1.42 at $87.55, off a high of $87.97. London Brent was up $1.15 at $83.90.
Oil is closing in on the inflation-adjusted high of $90.46 seen in 1980, the year after the Iranian revolution and at the start of the Iran-Iraq war. Prices this year have averaged $67.
Explaining the rise in price, investors have cited rising tensions between Turkey and Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, sturdy world energy demand growth, tight inventories in consumer nations heading into winter and unprecedented weakness in the US dollar.
Oil's nearly surge in just over a week has also been aided by additional fund buying across the commodities complex, partly as a hedge against a weaker dollar. Gold hit a 28-year high, and platinum broke record levels.