The previous record $US70.85 was reached on August 30, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina battered oil facilities on the US Gulf Coast.
Earlier on Tuesday, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil hit a record high $US72.20 per barrel.
Brent crude for June delivery jumped 57 cents to $US72.03 in electronic deals.
The price rise has been attributed to concerns that the US may attack Iran, the world's fourth largest producer of crude, over the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear program.
There are also fears of a US gasoline shortage, as well as rising demand caused by rapid economic growth in China.
Adjusted for inflation, current oil prices remain below levels reached after the 1979 Iranian revolution when they surged to prices equivalent to upwards of $US80 per barrel.
London's Brent contract has been striking record highs since April 10 on market concerns that the United States might launch strikes at uranium facilities in Iran.
The US administration on Monday said Iran's announcement that it was working on advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium was a further signal that the Islamic republic's nuclear program is not purely civilian.
Further fuelling tensions in the Middle East region was a suicide bomb attack in Israel's commercial capital of Tel Aviv that left nine people dead and dozens wounded.
The blast -- the deadliest since a suicide bombing in August 2004 -- was claimed by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which has been behind all of the most recent bomb attacks in
Israel.
Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with global consultancy Purvin and Gertz, said the attack and the Iranian nuclear row were reflective of the political volatility in the oil-producing Middle East, which has fuelled fears of supply disruptions in the event of a conflict.
"With all these events in the Middle East, prices hit the psychological level of 70 (US dollars) and settled above it," he added.
Although consumers have access to large supplies of heavy, sour crude, refiners prefer light, sweet oil because of its low sulphur content and relatively high yields of petrol, heating oil, diesel and jet fuel.