From The International Herald Tribune:
PERTH: Oil struck a record high at $119.93 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session’s rally, as a strike closed a major oil pipeline and as new violence in Nigeria reignited supply fears.
Simmering tensions between the United States and Iran also helped boost oil prices.
U.S. light crude for June delivery rose 88 cents to $119.40 by 2324 GMT, after striking a lifetime high of $119.93 a barrel shortly after electronic trading resumed after the weekend.
London Brent crude rose 66 cents to $117.
“Supply side concerns underpinned the oil price,” David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients.
“Oil supplies from Nigeria have been disrupted by militant attacks and a strike by some oil workers. A strike at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland has caused significant disruption to supplies from the North Sea,” he said.
The 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) Fortis pipeline, which carries nearly half of Britain’s oil, was closed on Sunday as a strike over pensions began at the neighbouring 210,000 bpd Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, operator BP said.
The refinery, owned by international chemical company Ineos, produces a tenth of Britain’s petrol and diesel but also supplies vital steam and power to BP’s Kinneil plant that processes the crude oil coming ashore from 70 North Sea fields.
The government has said that there will be no overall shortages of fuel but conceded that there may be some local supply problems, particularly in Scotland and northern England.
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