Oil is closing in on the inflation-adjusted high of $90.46 seen in 1980, the year after the Iranian revolution and at the start of the Iran-Iraq war. Prices this year have averaged $67.
At 12:08 p.m., U.S. crude was up $1.33 at $87.46, off a high of $87.97. London Brent was up $1.22 at $83.97.
Oil has set a series of records over the past three days.
Investors have cited rising tensions between Turkey and Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, sturdy world energy demand growth, tight inventories in consumer nations heading into winter and unprecedented weakness in the U.S. dollar.
"There's a lot of risk there and that is being reflected in the price," said fund manager David Dugdale of MFC Global Investment Management.
"It is difficult to find any bearish factors now. There's the Iraq-Turkey issue, a weak dollar, and inventory levels for U.S. heating oil are much lower than a year ago," said Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Japan's Astmax Futures Co. Ltd.
The Turkish cabinet asked parliament on Monday for permission to launch an attack on the separatists.
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