World oil prices shot up to new record-high levels on terrorism fears and a warning from OPEC's president that the cartel has little scope to increase output in the immediate future.

New York's reference contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, rose above 44 dollars per barrel for the first time, reaching a new record of 44.24 dollars in pre-opening electronic deals.

London's Brent North Sea crude oil for September delivery rose to as high as 40.45 dollars per barrel in electronic trading, the highest level since October 1990 when it reached 40.95 dollars in the wake of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

Traders baulked at comments from the president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who said the cartel needed time to increase supply.

An OPEC spokesman said the price of the OPEC basket of seven crude oils reached 39.04 dollars on Monday, the highest since the benchmark was introduced in 1980.

Heightened terrorism worries have also helped lift prices since the United States warned Sunday of possible Al-Qaeda attacks on key US financial centres.