Mumbai: Crude prices rose to all-time highs today, aided by a falling US currency.

In Singapore, US light sweet crude for May delivery rose 18 cents to $111.94 a barrel in the morning trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange after touching a record $112.48 earlier in the session.

The contract later retreated to $112.36 a barrel, up 60 cents from the previous day's record close of $111.76 a barrel.

London Brent crude rose 28 cents to $110.12, after hitting an all-time peak of $110.45 in early trading.

Crude oil has gained over 17 per cent from the start of the year and is averaging above $100 a barrel.

Oil's recent gains were largely attributed to a steadily depreciating dollar because a weakening dollar prompts investors to seek a safe haven in commodities like oil and gold.

Crude was supported by news of supply disruptions. The Capline pipeline - the Royal Dutch Shell PLC conduit that carries 1.2 million barrels of crude daily from the US Gulf Coast to the Midwest - was closed on the weekend but has since resumed operations at a slightly reduced capacity.

Mexico - one of the top suppliers to the US market - kept its three main ports in the Gulf of Mexico shut due to bad weather. The three ports ship about 80 per cent of Mexico's crude exports.

In Nigeria, Italian energy giant ENI reported a 5,000 barrel per day reduction in production at one of its facilities.

Oils gains were also aided by news from Wachovia Corp, the fourth largest bank in the US, which was forced to seek a $7 billion cash injection following a hefty first-quarter loss.

Disappointing first-quarter results from General Electric Co also overshadowed concerns raised by the Group of Seven industrialised nations about the dollar's fall.

The dollar held near record lows against the euro ahead of US economic data and first-quarter earnings results from corporate heavyweights this week.