Crude for December delivery surged 86 cents to $55.33 per barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where heating oil futures climbed 1.59 cents to an unprecedented $1.599 per gallon.

December Brent crude futures on London’s International Petroleum Exchange traded at $51.05 per barrel, up 33 cents.

"The primary concern now is the heating oil inventory level in the U.S,” said Victor Shum, an analyst at Texas-based energy consultants Purvin & Gertz.

On Wednesday, the Energy Department reported that U.S. inventories of distillate fuel, which include heating oil and diesel, shrank for the fifth consecutive week, leaving supplies nearly 10 percent below year ago levels.

Fears of a cold Northern Hemisphere winter have further stoked the price of heating oil, as dwindling stocks have also been reported in Western Europe and Japan.

Demand for jet fuel — kerosene and additives — also typically rises during the Christmas season because of extra flights, adding even more pressure.

"Production of heating oil has to ramp up fast as there is a lot of catching up to do,” said Shum.

Yet some analysts believe heating-oil supply fears have been somewhat overblown.

Inventories are Ωnot catastrophically low by any means,” said Andrew Lebow, senior vice president at Man Financial, a New York-based brokerage.

"The market has been so wracked with anxiety by it. It’s really difficult to explain,” he added. ΩWhat could be problematic for the market is if it’s an early cold, if November ends up being cold.”

While crude futures prices are more than 80 percent higher than a year ago, they still need to reach $80 per barrel in order to surpass the all-time peak — in inflation-adjusted terms — set in February 1981.