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LONDON : Oil prices surged by more than 2.0 dollars on Wednesday, supported by unrest in crude producer Nigeria and the prospect of falling energy inventories in the United States, dealers said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February, soared 2.02 dollars to 98 dollars per barrel from its close on Monday.
Brent North Sea crude for February climbed 1.74 dollars to 96.21 dollars.
Markets were closed Tuesday for the New Year holiday.
In Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude producer, at least 12 people were killed over the New Year in the country's oil capital Port Harcourt, raising fears that crude output could be further reduced.
Gunmen attacked two police stations and a hotel, a military officer in the city said on Wednesday.
"With the military and the militant warlords engaged in a violent tit-for-tat, the risk for oil disruptions in Nigeria remains higher than in the past few months," said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.
Violence by militants has reduced Nigeria's oil output by about a fifth since the start of 2006.
Elsewhere, an official report due Thursday was expected to show that crude oil inventories in the United States, the world's top energy consumer, have fallen for a seventh week in a row.
Falling inventories amid the northern hemisphere winter when demand for heating fuel surges is helping to lift prices.
"Crude prices are drawing some support from (expectations of) a further decline in crude stocks in a weekly US inventories report," said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
Oil prices doubled last year, with New York crude reaching a record high of 99.29 dollars on November 21.
Analysts are forecasting oil to break through 100 dollars early in 2008 on strong demand and tight supplies.
"As we look ahead through January and the first quarter of 2008 it is hard to imagine how we don't get to 100 dollars, if not much above it," said Stephen Schork, president of oil analysts The Schork Report.
New York prices had briefly approached 98 dollars late last week after the assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
David Moore, a commodities strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said Wednesday that geopolitical tensions in Pakistan and the Middle East had "created a risk premium" for the oil market.
- AFP /ls
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