Oil prices soar to record high of $70.88 US

Oil prices hit a new early trading high of $70.88 US a barrel, fuelled by concerns over Tehran's nuclear ambitions and supply disruptions in Nigeria. U.S. light, sweet crude exceeded the previous record of $70.85 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude surged to another record high of $72.20 a barrel.

"We have broken new ground today," Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore told The Associated Press. The previous intraday high was set Aug. 30, when Hurricane Katrina battered the U.S. Gulf Coast, which took a debilitating toll on the region's oil industry.

Oil prices have climbed more than $10, or 16 per cent, over the past four weeks, as tensions rise amid possible military action against Iran and a major Nigerian supply outage drags into the third month.

Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, who will gather informally this weekend during an International Energy Forum meeting in Doha, have said there is nothing more they can do to stabilize prices.

(2006-04-18 22:58:33 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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