New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, soared 3.55 dollars to 66.55 dollars per barrel in early trading.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery climbed 3.22 dollars to 65.03 dollars per barrel.

Tropical Storm Rita was likely to become a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.

Prudential Bache trader Christopher Bellew said: "The reason why we're seeing stronger numbers is this new storm coming in the Caribbean which could cause disruptions to the crude oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico."

Key West was ordered evacuated as Rita looked set to become a strong hurricane as it headed toward Florida Keys. Rita pounded islands of the southern Bahamas on Monday morning and was expected to strengthen later.

Hurricane experts also warned the storm might deviate from its forecast track and eventually slam ashore close to New Orleans, which is struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

On August 30, a day after Katrina had battered US oil facilities on the Gulf coast, New York's main oil contract hit a record-high 70.85 dollars per barrel, and in London Brent reached an all-time high 68.89 dollars - leaving prices double the levels in 2003.

Prices have since retreated as a number of oil facilities in the region came back on line and after the United States and its industrial partners agreed to tap emergency reserves.

Sucden oil broker Robert Montefusco added: "Obviously we're still down by a bit from the last hurricane and if this new storm hampers any more there will be quite a shortage."

Meanwhile, the market was keeping a close eye on OPEC, which began on Monday a two-day meeting in Vienna to decide on the oil cartel's output.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was likely to offer oil markets an extra two million barrels per day of crude if needed, OPEC president Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah said in the Austrian capital.

"I think we will reach a resolution for the two million," Sheikh Ahmad said after an OPEC meeting in Vienna. "Nobody is against this proposal, it's only (a question of) how we will offer it."

OPEC ministers had been torn between increasing official crude output by 500,000 bpd or merely making more oil available on demand for a market still reeling from the shock of Katrina.

The 11-member cartel has insisted that a lack of refining capacity, not oil supply, is behind current high prices.

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