NYMEX's December crude futures on the CME's Globex system were 99 cents
higher at $92.86/barrel Monday after hitting a new all-time high of
$93.20/barrel in overnight trading while the US Dollar again hit a
record-setting low.

The US Dollar Index on ICE Futures hit an all-time low of 76.777 before
rebounding to 76.95, down 8 points since Friday's settlement.

Dollar weakness reduces the costs of commodities for importers.

Additional support was had from news that Mexico had closed three ports
and shut in 600,000 b/d of offshore production. Lost production from Mexico is
apt to impact US oil imports, which took a nosedive in last week's Energy
Information Administration report. US crude imports dropped 1.3 million b/d to
9.1 million b/d, causing inventories to decline 5.2 million barrels. Any loss
of imports could cause US crude stocks to continue to decline again.

"Today's sharply higher opening is attributable mainly to [Mexican
company] Pemex's weekend decision to shut down about one-fifth of its daily
output due to bad weather," Ed Meir, energy analyst at MF Global, said in a
report. "Although the company said it expects to resume output within days,
the markets were unnerved by the news, and pushed higher almost from the
start."

--Linda Rafield, linda_rafield@platts.com