Oil prices hit record high $90.07

LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices soared to another record high above 90 dollars per barrel amid global supply jitters and tensions between Turkey and crude producer Iraq, dealers said Friday.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, touched 90.07 dollars per barrel in early afternoon deals. That beat the previous high of 90.02 dollars set late on Thursday.

London's Brent North Sea crude for December delivery was flat at 84.60 dollars after hitting a record 84.88 dollars on Thursday.

"Persistent geopolitical fears provide good support to oil prices," said analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov at the Sucden brokerage in London.

This week, crude prices have blazed a record-breaking trail as Turkey has moved closer towards a military incursion into northern Iraq -- where many of the troubled country's largest oil fields are based.

Iraq's Kurds vowed on Friday to fight off any attack on their region as pressure mounted in Baghdad and Washington for action against Kurdish rebels to stave off a potential Turkish incursion.

The market was also fretting over the falling US dollar. A weak greenback makes commodities priced in the US unit cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies and therefore boosts crude demand, analysts say.

In Friday morning trade, the European single currency hit a fresh record high at 1.4319 dollars.

Prices were "still underpinned by a weakening dollar and tight fuel supplies ahead of the winter heating season," added Kryuchenkov.

Demand for heating fuel hits a peak during the northern hemisphere winter and supplies are widely expected to tighten.

Turkey has said it will pursue diplomacy to defuse the crisis over Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq while Baghdad has tried to dissuade its northern neighbour from possible military action.

The Turkish parliament Wednesday approved a motion authorising military strikes against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is accused of using bases in northern Iraq for attacks on targets across the border in Turkey.

Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Astmax in Tokyo, said a portion of Iraqi crude from its northern oilfields is exported from Turkey because it is easier to do so.

"This is why traders are looking closely at the situation along the border, Emori said.

"There are some Iraqi exports waiting to be transported but that could not (be) because of the tension. That's the main factor."