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NEW YORK: Oil prices briefly hit record highs of close to 144 dollars per barrel on Monday, as the dollar slid and Europeans protested sky-high crude costs.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, closed down 21 cents at 140.00 dollars a barrel, not far off its record closing high of 140.21 dollars struck on Friday.
The contract had surged to a record 143.67 dollars in earlier trading activity in volatile trade.
In London, Brent North Sea oil for August delivery scored a historic peak of 143.91 dollars a barrel before settling down 48 cents at 139.83 dollars.
High fuel prices sparked protests on Monday among hundreds of truckers across France, blocking main highways and snarling commuter traffic around Paris.
Meanwhile, leading figures in the oil world gathered in Madrid for a conference with the search for a remedy to record crude prices again stymied by division about its causes.
"Crude oil prices have continued to rise, given continued dollar weakness against the major currencies," said analysts at energy consultancy John Hall Associates.
"Geopolitical tensions are also evident ... given continued unrest in Nigeria following news of another attack on the country's oil infrastructure and simmering tensions between Israel and Iran," the analysts said.
In Nigeria, two unidentified gunmen and two civilians were killed, one of them beheaded, in two separate attacks on Saturday in southern Nigeria's oil-rich Bonny Island, a military spokesman said.
Bonny hosts several multinational oil and gas firms and is also home to Nigeria's multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas production.
Nigeria's daily production has been cut by about a quarter because of attacks, kidnappings and sabotage in the region over the past two years.
Elsewhere, tensions over crude producer Iran and its nuclear ambitions, which Tehran says are peaceful, also kept the market on edge.
The commander of the US navy's Fifth Fleet warned that the United States will not allow Iran to shut the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf sea lane through which much of the world's oil is supplied.
"They will not close it ... They will not be allowed to close it," US Vice-Admiral Kevin J. Cosgriff told a press conference in Bahrain, where the
Fifth Fleet is based.
Global oil prices have doubled in the past year and have risen by almost 50percent since the start of 2008, when they breached 100 dollars for the first time, triggering fears over inflation and slower economic growth.
Consumer countries blame record prices on tight supplies amid strong demand and unrest in producer countries such as Iran, Iraq and Nigeria. In particular, they accuse OPEC of not producing enough crude.
The 13-nation Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, however, insists that the weak dollar is at fault, as it drives up demand. Oil is priced in dollars and becomes cheaper for holders of many non-dollar currencies.
In Madrid, the world's biggest oil producers and consumers gathered for the industry's four-day World Petroleum Congress to explore ways of calming energy markets.
The WPC meeting comes one week after participants failed to stem record-breaking oil prices at a summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Pressure is mounting for a response to ease the pain of consumers suffering from high fuel costs.
One of the main points of contention is the role of speculators, blamed consistently by producer countries for the doubling of crude prices over the last 12 months.
Western oil chiefs, backing the view of governments in consumer countries, insist that speculators are the wrong target and that the failure of supply to match rising demand is the real cause. - AFP/de
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