Oil brokers said the market was worried the storm would cause the shutting down of oil fields and refineries, curtailing oil supplies to the United States -- the world's biggest oil consumer.

New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) October crude futures responded by rising to an intraday high of $22.11 per barrel, the highest level traded since October 1997.

The price was 23-cents higher than New York's close on Friday.

Trading on Monday was sporadic owing to a system's glitch on the after-hours electronic trading system known as ACCESS.

But at 0725 GMT, the October crude contract had last traded at $22.00 per barrel, below the high of the day but still 12 cents higher than Friday.

Oil prices have risen consistently for the past six months as Opec tightened supplies and forced bulging world stock piles to slim down.

Bret added to the worriesabout tightening supplies. "The market is worried about the oil platforms and refineries down there in Texas," Mark Ammirati, a broker with ED&F Man in New York said.

Citgo Petroleum Corp said it had shut down its 280,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Corpus Christi refinery as a precaution against Bret, a company spokesman said.

Spokesman Kent Young said the company was concerned the hurricane, which at one point had winds of 140 miles per hour (224 kilometres per hour), would score a direct hit on Corpus Christi.

Young said Citgo would wait until the storm and the threat of tornadoes, which often accompany hurricanes, had passed before restarting the facility.

Other companies with major refineries in Corpus Christi include: Koch Oil Company, 280,000 bpd; Coastal Corp, 100,000 bpd; and Valero Energy Corp, 190,000 bpd. Oil product prices on ACCESS were also up.

September heating oil futures rose 0.58 cent per gallon to 58.00 cents per gallon compared with New York's close on Friday.

Unleaded gasolinefutures were up 0.63 cent at 66.40 cents per gallon.

Both New York and London oil prices rose to 22-month highs on Friday as worries grew that production cuts by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could cause a supply crunch in the fourth quarter -- when demand from the northern hemisphere hits a seasonal peak.

Monday's prices pushed those peaks slightly higher. Opec's tight rein on production was reinforced during the weekend.

On Sunday, Opec powerhouse Iran said there was no chance the cartel's squeeze on the price would be relaxed anytime soon.

"Opec has decided to keep the cuts until March 2000 and the (OPEC) monitoring committee endorsed that position," said Iran's Opec Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, a candidate for the group's key secretary-general post.

He said average year-to-date oil prices were still relatively low and that OPEC wanted to achieve a sustained level of oil prices before releasing more supply.

In addition, the Middle East Economic Survey, anindustry publication, said that OPEC was working on ways to ensure future price stability by forming a committee to shape policies, including one where OPEC would tighten or loosen its production tap to keep price between $18 and $20 per barrel.