Crude oil prices have jumped to near record highs on fresh supply concerns, sparked by an International Energy Agency report and geopolitical worries.
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Strike and sabotage cut Nigeria's oil output ... light, sweet crude added $2.86 to $137.21 a barrel, heading closer to the all-time high of $139.12 a barrel which was reached last week.
Brent also rose, up $2.34 to $136.25, after the IEA cut its forecast for supply growth in oil producing nations.
Further attacks in Nigeria, a key US oil supplier, also pushed prices up.
'Tricky situation'
The IEA also cut expectations for demand growth in its monthly report, but analysts considered that the problem of supply constraints offset the expectations of falling demand.
"It's a tricky situation because supply is falling as fast as demand is," said Francisco Blanch of Merrill Lynch.
Producer cartel Opec has been reluctant to increase production, believing there is no shortage of supply, and has blamed the recent surge in prices on speculators.
But critics argue that supplies are failing to keep pace with the growth in demand and that prices are set to head towards $200 a barrel in the next 18 months.
(BBC)
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