New York crude hits 11-month high near 76 dollars

LONDON (AFP) - The price of crude oil in New York hit a fresh 11-month high point yesterday, and Brent traded close to its all-time peak, as traders tracked concerns over tight US energy supplies.

Prices also found support from news of further supply outages in Africa, this time in Angola, traders said.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, climbed to 75.87 dollars per barrel -- the highest point since August 9, 2006. Later Thursday it stood at 75.00 dollars, down by just five cents.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery won 15 cents to 76.91 dollars per barrel.

The August contract had struck 78.40 dollars on Monday, close to Brent's historic high of 78.64.

"Crude futures were higher (on Thursday) ... gaining ground after a sharp rise in gasoline futures, that was triggered by a surprising drop in US gasoline inventories last week," Sucden analyst Michael Davies said.

US gasoline (petrol) inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels in the week ended July 13, to 203.3 million barrels, leaving them 4.5 percent below their year-earlier levels, the US Department of Energy (DoE) said Wednesday.

Last week's drop compared with analyst forecasts for a rise of 700,000 barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles have been a focus for the market because of current high demand for motor fuel as Americans take to the roads for their summer holidays.

Elsewhere, French oil group Total said Thursday that production at one of its fields off the coast of Angola had been cut in half because of an electrical generator problem.

It said that since Wednesday the Dalia off-shore field was producing 120,000 barrels a day, down from 240,000 under normal conditions. The group said the problem would be fixed in one or two days.

Total turns out more than 500,000 barrels a day from its Angolan sites, representing about 10 percent of its total output.

Analysts said prices are expected to remain supported by tight supplies.

"There are a lot of speculators in the market now," noted Nas Nijjar, a trader at CMC Markets.

"People were looking for a push above 78 dollars (for Brent), and now they are going to look for 78.65 dollars."

Oil prices have risen strongly since last week when the International Energy Agency raised its 2008 forecast for oil demand by 2.5 percent to 88.2 million barrels a day.

The IEA has called for the OPEC producers' cartel to pump more crude, notably during the ongoing driving season.

However, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has repeatedly insisted it does not plan to raise output.

Leading OPEC member Iran said Tuesday there was no need for an emergency meeting of the cartel to discuss high oil prices, saying the market was already well-supplied with crude.