A customer pumps gas at a Mobil gas station in Medford, Massachusetts, April 30, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Crude oil topped 124 U.S. dollars a barrel Thursday afternoon after European Central Bank decided to leave interest rates unchanged.

    Light, sweet crude for June delivery surged to 124.61 dollars a barrel in the after-market electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since oil futures started trading in 1983.

    Earlier in the afternoon crude futures rose to a record closing price of 123.69 dollars, trading up 16 cents up. In London, Brent crude futures for June delivery settled at 122.84 dollars a barrel, trading up 52 cents.

    Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, told a news conference that the interest rates will remain unchanged to fight inflation. New York market reacted with a rising euro against the dollar.

    Crude futures waffled on Thursday morning after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries denied shortage of oil supply and blamed the turmoil in equity market and a weaker dollar for recent price hike. Oil prices retreated to as low as 121.58 dollars on NYMEX before scissoring up later.

    Oil prices touched an intraday record of 123.93 dollars a barrel Wednesday after U.S. Energy Department's weekly report suggested a fall in distillate fuels supply.