US crude hits 53 dollars for first time

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York's main crude oil contract shot to 53 dollars a barrel for the first time in opening trade as fears rose for heating oil supplies in the US winter.
Light sweet crude for delivery in November spiked at 53.00 dollars shortly after trade opened. After five minutes, it was trading at 52.92 dollars, up 90 cents on the day.
US commercial inventories of heating oil, crucial in the approach to winter, fell 1.2 million barrels to 51.2 million, according to a weekly report Wednesday by the Department of Energy.
"There's a lot of concern surrounding the levels of stocks in the US," Veronica Smart, an analyst at the British-based Energy Information Centre, said in London.
"We're approaching winter when demand is obviously higher, particularly for gasoil. If we do have a particularly harsh winter I think supplies could struggle."