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FACTBOX: Why oil prices are at a record high

US crude oil hit a record high of $90.07 a barrel on Friday. Strong demand for crude and a weak US dollar have fuelled the rally from a dip below $50 at the start of the year.

Adjusted for inflation, oil is still below the $101.70 peak hit in April 1980, according to the International Energy Agency, a year after the Iranian revolution.

Dollar weakness: The fall in the value of the US dollar against other major currencies has helped drive buying across commodities as investors view dollar assets as relatively cheap.

* It has also reduced the purchasing power of OPEC’s revenues and increased the purchasing power of some non-dollar consumers.

* OPEC oil ministers have noted that although prices are rising to record nominal levels, inflation and the dollar have softened the impact.

* The group’s OPEC reference price in nominal terms was $74.18 in September, but was valued at $50.98 when adjusted for inflation and the weak dollar.

* Some analysts say investors have been using oil as a hedge against the weaker dollar.

Demand: While previous price spikes have been triggered by supply disruptions, demand from top consumers the United States and China is a main driver of the current rally.

* Global demand growth has slowed after a surge in 2004 but is still rising and higher prices have so far had a very limited effect on economic growth.

* Analysts say the world is coping well with high nominal prices because, adjusted for exchange rates and inflation, they are lower than during previous price spikes and some economies have become less energy intensive.

Funds: Investment flows from pension and hedge funds into commodities including oil have resumed after a hiatus early in the year due to concerns about the global economy.

* Speculative trading in energy markets has boomed in recent years as investors sought to beat returns in other markets such as equities and bonds.

OPEC supply restraint: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, source of more than a third of the world’s oil, started to reduce oil output in late 2006 to stem a fall in prices.

* Fewer OPEC barrels entering the market helped propel this year’s rally and consumer nations led by the International Energy Agency for months urged OPEC to pump more oil.

* At a meeting last month, OPEC agreed to increase oil output by 500,000 barrels per day from Nov 1.

* OPEC’s heads of state summit in Riyadh next month may turn into a full-blown meeting to consider raising oil output, but few in the group believe there is much they can do to tame a market they say defies logic.

Nigeria: Supply of crude from Nigeria, the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter, has been cut since February 2006 because of militant attacks on the country’s oil industry.

* Oil companies have detailed about 547,000 bpd of shut Nigerian production due to militant attacks and sabotage.

Iran: Oil consumers are concerned about supply disruption from Iran, the world’s fourth-biggest exporter, which is locked in a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.

* Western governments suspect Iran is using its civilian nuclear programme as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying it wants nuclear power to make electricity.

Iraq: Iraq is struggling to get its oil industry back on its feet after decades of wars, sanctions and underinvestment.

* Exports of Kirkuk crude from the country’s north are sporadic as sabotage and technical problems have mostly idled the pipeline since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, preventing exports returning to the pre-invasion rate.

Refinery bottlenecks: Refiners in the United States, the world’s top gas guzzler, struggled with unexpected outages which drained inventories ahead of the summer, when motor fuel demand peaks.

* In the latest weekly figures from the US government, issued on Oct 17, distillate stocks and heating oil inventories rose. Both were still below their levels of a year ago. reuters

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