NEW YORK : The price of New York crude oil briefly struck a fresh 10-month high above 70 dollars a barrel on Friday on supply concerns in the United States, the world's biggest consumer of energy, traders said.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, closed up a hefty 1.11 dollars at 70.68.

In earlier trading, however, the contract had soared as high as 71.06 dollars, its highest level since August 28, 2006.

Across the Atlantic in London, Brent North Sea crude for August delivery jumped 89 cents to settle up at 71.41 dollars per barrel.

Analysts said worries about tight US energy supplies were supporting prices.

"With US refineries starting to come back on line, US crude oil stocks will draw (fall)," Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakobs said.

Crude prices had closed more than a dollar higher on Wednesday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported that American gasoline (petrol) stockpiles fell by 700,000 barrels to 202.6 million barrels in the week ending June 22.

That surprised the market, as analysts had expected a gain of 1.0 million barrels.

Gasoline reserves are in focus because of the US summer driving season when demand typically peaks as many Americans take to the roads for their annual vacations.

US gasoline inventories are running well below the lower end of the average range for this time of year, the DoE added in its weekly market update.

World oil prices had begun the week on a downward trend after the end of a general strike in Nigeria that had threatened exports from the sixth-biggest crude producer in the world.

Nigerians returned to work last Monday, two days after the country's two main trade unions ended a four-day general strike that had paralyzed economic and commercial activities.

Elsewhere, analysts said this week that high international oil prices may have forced China to postpone filling at least one of its much-anticipated strategic oil reserves.

China, the world's second-largest importer of oil, has seen its demand for energy rocket as a result of its explosive economic growth, which has been double-digit for four consecutive years.

The Middle East has traditionally been China's main source of oil, but the country has sought energy elsewhere since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which has fuelled unrest across the region. - AFP/de