Brent, WTI each add over $3 per barrel

Crude oil prices rose to new highs on Thursday as the President of Turkey threatened more attacks on Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and as the George Bush administration in the United States imposed new sanctions on Iran and officially labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a weapons of mass destruction proliferator.

In addition, traders were reacting to Wednesday’s inventories figures from the US Energy Information Administration, which were lower than had been anticipated and to another decline in the dollar.

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery added $3.36 to $90.46 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while December contracts for Brent crude were up $3.11 to $87.48 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

WTI hit an all-time high at $90.60 during the session, while Brent also set a new record when it climbed as high as $87.59 earlier in the day.

Nymex November gasoline added 9 cents on the session to $2.24 per gallon, while December heating oil gained 5 cents to $2.41 per gallon and December natural gas was up 13 cents to $7.79 per million British thermal units.