•Prices moved to new highs as Mexico closed all its oil-loading ports in the Gulf and prepared to shut in 600,000 b/d of offshore production Sunday as a new cold front--Front No. 5 of the season--swept into the region with winds gusting at up to 100 km/hour. The oil-loading ports of Pajaritos, Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas were closed to shipping all day Sunday, with conditions expected to worsen overnight. State-owned oil company Pemex said Sunday it had already shut in 200,000 b/d of offshore production and that a further 400,000 b/d would be shut in "within a matter of hours."

•The ever weakening US dollar also contributed once again to the upward price momentum. The dollar weakened to a record low of $1.4443 against the euro earlier in Monday's session, the weakest since the introduction of the 13-nation common currency in 1999.

Updated: October 29, 2007