NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures topped $90 a barrel Tuesday, hitting two-year highs as a weak dollar helped push oil above the key threshold. Light, sweet crude oil for January delivery recently traded $1.32, or 1.5%, higher at $90.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting $90.76, the highest price since October 2008. Brent crude oil on the ICE futures exchange rose $1.31 to $92.76 a barrel. A weak dollar against the euro gave crude oil the final shove above $90. The euro was recently trading up 0.7% to $1.3775 as worries fade about Ireland's debt crisis. A drop in the dollar typically leads to rising crude-oil prices, by making oil cheaper for buyers in other currencies. "There's been a lot of momentum behind crude. This morning we're checking all the boxes: a stronger euro, rallying equities and a crude drawdown expected tomorrow," said Matt Smith, an oil analyst with Summit Energy. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a higher opening, and were recently up 88 points to 11441. In recent weeks, oil has pushed steadily higher on improving economic data in the U.S. and growing expectations that emerging markets are eating into oil supplies even as demand slowly recovers in the U.S. and Europe. Demand in China has been particularly strong. Companies have turned to diesel-powered generators after local governments cut electricity in an effort to meet the country's long-term energy goals. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets this week and is expected to keep production quotas unchanged. While analysts said the majority of offshore oil supplies have been exhausted, global supplies still remain high and OPEC is believed to have additional spare capacity. "Prices have risen on a combination of factors including the improving signs of an economic recovery, an advancing stock market and a weakening US dollar," said Peter Beutel, of oil advisory firm Cameron Hanover, in a client note. "Oil market fundamentals are better now...but no one would look at supplies or demand and say that this is a convincingly strong market." Traders will be watching for U.S. inventory data from the U.S. Department of Energy Wednesday to see if oil and fuel supplies continue to drop from 27-year highs in September. U.S. crude-oil inventories are expected to fall by 1.3 million barrels in the weekly data, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of analysts. Gasoline stocks are seen rising by 400,000 barrels, while stocks of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, are seen falling by 700,000 barrels. Front-month January reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded 1.76 cents higher at $2.3593 a gallon. January heating oil recently traded 3.70 higher at $2.5127 a gallon.

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