Oil hits record, Britain calls for OPEC hike

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices jumped to a new peak near $114 a barrel on Tuesday amid lingering supply worries and weakness in the U.S. dollar, deepening concern in world consumer nations that a spike in energy costs could cause severe economic damage.

Britain’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, on Tuesday called on OPEC members to boost production to counter rapidly rising oil prices, which have shot up 80 percent since a year ago, adding his voice to similar requests from the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.


“We are not producing enough oil … and we can take collective action to persuade OPEC and others to get the oil price down,” Brown said in an interview on Sky Television.

U.S. crude rose $1.80 to $113.56 a barrel by 1545 GMT, after touching a record high of $113.93. Oil is up about 18 percent from the start of the year and more than 80 percent since last April.

London Brent crude was up $1.73 at $111.57, after hitting a record high of $111.85.

Reuters