(Adds quote, updates prices)
By Annika Breidthardt
SINGAPORE, April 15 (Reuters) - Oil futures surged to
record highs on Tuesday, breaking through buy-stops as they
extended gains on the back of supply disruptions and a weak
dollar.
U.S. light crude for May delivery <CLc1> rose 59 cents to
$112.35 a barrel at 0402 GMT, after touching a high of $112.48
a barrel and surpassing its previous $112.21 a barrel record.
U.S. futures are up 17 percent from the start of the year.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 41 cents to $110.25 a
barrel, after a record-high of $110.45 and surpassing Monday's
$110.01 high.
"After the oil price reached the ($112.21) level, buying
orders pushed up the price," said Tetsu Emori, fund manager at
Astmax Co Ltd, adding he expected the next target to be at
$115.00 a barrel.
"It has some self-fulfilling momentum at the moment," said
David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of
Australia.
"But there are no specific new fundamental factors that
should drive it higher from yesterday."
Mexico -- one of the top exporters to the U.S. market --
kept its three main crude oil exporting ports in the Gulf of
Mexico shut on Monday due to bad weather. []
Those three ports ship about 80 percent of Mexico's crude
exports. A smaller port in the Pacific was also shut, the
Mexican government said.
"The system is so tight that any supply problems cause real
concern," said Robert Nunan of Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
"We just don't have the big cushion any more that we used
to have, so it's much easier for money to come in and prop up
prices now," he added.
CAPLINE UP
Easing some supply concern, oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc
<RDSA.L> restarted the giant U.S. Gulf to Midwest Capline crude
oil pipeline on Monday after completing repairs on a small leak
discovered on Friday, the company said. []
Shell had shut the 1.14 million barrels per day (bpd)
capacity line on Friday after a worker discovered a crack that
resulted in approximately 10 gallons of oil being spilled.
The dollar stayed under pressure on Tuesday ahead of U.S.
data and financial institutions' first-quarter results expected
to give clues on the state of the economy and credit markets.
A weak dollar tends to raise prices for commodities
denominated in that currency by boosting non-U.S. spending
power and by attracting investors seeking an inflation hedge.
U.S. gasoline futures hitting fresh highs on Monday also
helped. They rose as the United States gears up for the summer
driving season, when demand traditionally peaks, but the Energy
Information Administration has drivers may use less for the
first time since 1991, due to lofty pump prices and a weak
economy.
And the U.S. government said U.S. consumers were spending
more than ever to fill up at the pump, as the average price for
gasoline climbed to a new high of $3.39 a gallon after rising
5.7 cents over the last week. []
U.S. crude oil inventories figures are due on Wednesday.
They likely rebounded last week after a surprise drawdown
the week before, with an increase in imports lifting supply,
according to a preliminary Reuters poll of eight industry
analysts. []
(Editing by Ben Tan)
