Oil prices shot to a record high on Wednesday as OPEC said it won't boost production and U.S. crude supplies showed a surprise drop.

The price of light, sweet crude for April delivery closed at $104.52 US a barrel, up $5 US on the day.

Algerian energy minister Chakib Khelil speaks to journalists prior to the start of the OPEC meeting at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on March 5.
(Associsted Press/Ronald Zak)

According to weekly supply data released by the U.S. Energy Department, U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 3.1 million barrels to 305.4 million barrels for the week ending Feb. 29. Market analysts had been expecting a rise of 2.1 million barrels.

Earlier in the day, the members of OPEC declined to raise or lower its production.

OPEC president Chakib Khelil of Algeria said the world's oil market is being affected by "the mismanagement of the U.S. economy."

"If the prices are high, definitely they are not due to a lack of crude. They are due to what's happening in the U.S.," Khelil said at a meeting of oil ministers in Vienna. "There is sufficient supply. There's plenty of oil there."

The cartel said it will keep "constant vigilance" over the oil market. OPEC expects to see weaker demand for oil in the second quarter as economies slow.

Prior to Wednesday's meeting, U.S. President George W. Bush had called on the cartel to boost its production.

"I think it's a mistake to have your biggest customers' economies slowing down as a result of higher energy prices," Bush said Tuesday following a meeting at the White House with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

With files from the Associated Press