The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Singapore

World oil prices continued higher in Asian trade on Thursday after edging closer to a new record, as geopolitical tensions resurfaced and supplies tightened in the United States, dealers said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, rose 17 cents to 76.47 dollars per barrel from 76.30 dollars in late US trades Thursday, when the contract traded as high as 77.43 dollars.

That was not far off the record high of 78.77 dollars reached on August 1.

Brent North Sea crude for October delivery was three cents higher at 74.80 dollars a barrel.

Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz Inc in Singapore, said a combination of factors have helped push prices higher, including a United States warning of "terrorist" threats against US and other Western commercial operations in Nigeria, the world's sixth biggest crude producer.

Continuing unrest in Nigeria has already led to about a quarter of the country's 2.6 million barrels-per-day output being cut.

Additional price support came from a weekly report by the US Energy Information Administration, which revealed Thursday that American crude reserves tumbled by 3.9 million barrels in the week ending August 31.

That was far heavier than analyst consensus forecasts of a drop of 2.2 million barrels.

American gasoline inventories meanwhile sank by 1.5 million barrels.

The weekly report came one day later than usual because of Monday's Labour Day holiday in the United States.

Hurricane Felix slammed into Central America on Tuesday and top US experts predicted six more hurricanes would form in the Atlantic region this year.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel is to meet in Vienna on Tuesday but traders generally expect it to maintain its production quota at 25.8 million barrels of oil per day, a factor which is also supportive of prices, Shum said.