Oil jumped over $4 to a new record high near $146 a barrel today, spurred by growing worries of threats to supplies from Iran and Nigeria and a strike of Brazilian oil workers next week.
US crude was $4.17 at $145.82 a barrel by 11.56am, off highs of $145.98, after jumping $5.60 or 4 per cent a barrel in late trading yesterday.
London Brent crude was up $4.25 at $146.28 a barrel.
Leading the oil complex was ICE gas oil futures which climbed to a new record high of $1,335 a tonne amid strong demand for diesel and aviation fuel.
Oil, which had been on the retreat for much of early part of the week, reversed course yesterday as fears of supply disruptions from potential hot-spots, OPEC members Iran and Nigeria, resurfaced.
A spate of missile tests by Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, in the last two days against a backdrop of rising tensions with Israel and the United States has left the oil markets worried.
Iran has threatened to strike back at Tel Aviv as well as US interests in and a key oil shipping route if it is attacked over its nuclear programme, which Israel and the West fears is aimed at making nuclear weapons.
The United States reminded Tehran it was ready to defend its allies.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main militant group in Nigeria's oil-producing region, said it was abandoning a ceasefire to protest against a British offer to help tackle lawlessness in the region.
Rebel attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, the world's eighth biggest exporter, have also been partly responsible for the nearly 50 per cent rise in prices this year.
Workers at Brazil's Petrobras threatened to launch a five-day strike next week that would affect all 42 Campos basin offshore platforms, which account for more than 80 per cent of daily oil output of around 1.8 million barrels.
Reuters