Oil prices have eased from this week's succession of record highs, but anxiety over outages in the US Gulf, Nigeria and Norway in the run-up to winter leaves little hope of relief for consumers.
US light crude traded down 28 cents at $52.39 a barrel, having peaked at $53 yesterday, the third day in a row the market has hit an all-time high.
Unexpectedly strong demand growth, particularly in China, has helped oil surge 60 per cent this year, forcing top producers to pump more than at any time in the past 25 years and leaving little margin for any supply disruptions.
An already stretched supply chain has been stressed by the lingering loss of US production from the Gulf of Mexico and threats to Nigerian and Norwegian supplies.
Production is also being curtailed in Norway, the world's number three exporter, where a rig workers' strike will expand a the weekend to shut in around 55,000 bpd of the nation's 3 million bpd, officials say.
This production shortage coupled with last month's refinery closures during the hurricane season have made a serious dent in US heating oil inventories ahead of the winter, when demand for the fuel soars in the northeast.
Weekly government data showed an unexpectedly deep draw in supplies of distillates, including heating oil, which is running around 6 per cent below this time last year. The situation is similar in major Asian and European countries.
Despite this year's sustained surge in prices, officials have expressed mixed views on the potential impact on economic growth.
US officials have said the impact of current prices should be modest, while booming India expects to exceed its five-year energy growth forecast, a top energy official said Thursday.