Monday, August 8 2005 13:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Singapore: Oil prices today (Aug 8.2005) rose to new record highs in Asian trading as refinery problems in the United States, the world's biggest crude consumer, continued to stoke supply fears, dealers said.

At 11:05 AM (0835 IST), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, was at 62.47 dollars a barrel, up 16 cents from its record closing high of 62.31 dollars in the United States on Friday.

The contract had earlier touched a new trading high of 62.69 dollars, surpassing the previous high point of 62.50 dollars.

With US refiners straining to meet demand, the failure by oil giant Exxon Mobil to restart its 245,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Joliet, Illinois, as scheduled last Thursday was compounding worries of a supply disruption, dealers said.

"The US is pretty much running flat out on its refining capacity," said Tony Nunan, manager for energy risk management at Mitsubishi Corp's international petroleum business in Tokyo.

"Overall it's a bullish situation," he said.

Oil prices have hit historic highs in recent trading sessions on concerns that supplies of heating oil during the fourth quarter will be insufficient to meet demand when the northern hemisphere winter begins.

There are also worries over gasoline supplies, especially during the current summer vacation season in Europe and the United States.