LONDON, July 27: World oil prices rose above $74 per barrel on Thursday, supported by strong demand for motor fuel in the United States and supply disruptions in Nigeria, analysts said.

Crude futures were lifted also by ongoing violence in the Middle East, they added.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, climbed 28 cents to $74.22 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery won 90 cents to $74.90 per barrel in electronic deals.Oil prices advanced “on the back of strong demand for gasoline in the US and on continued problems in Nigeria,” Sucden analyst Michael Davies said.

Over the past four weeks, US demand for gasoline, or petrol, has risen by 1.8pc from the same period in 2005, the US Department of Energy said on Wednesday.

This showed “once again that high pump prices are not hurting demand,” Davies said.

Gasoline statistics are under heightened scrutiny because of peak US demand amid the crucial holiday driving season.

The DoE added on Wednesday that gasoline stocks dropped by 3.2 million barrels to 211 million in the week to July 21, while the market had expected no change.

US crude oil inventories were stable at 335.5 million barrels. Analysts had forecast a fall of 500,000 barrels.

“Product demand is the key to the fundamentals of this (oil) market, which is underpinned by tight spare capacity for complex refining and light sweet crude,” Calyon analyst Mike Wittner said.

Crude prices were lifted by unrest and supply disruptions in Nigeria, Africa's biggest producer of crude.Crude production in Nigeria has been slashed by a total of 675,000 barrels per day, or 26pc of the country's normal daily output, a source close to the oil sector told AFP on Thursday.

Nigeria produces 2.6 million barrels of oil per day under normal conditions, but a series of attacks by separatist rebels on oil companies in the Niger Delta region has hit the industry hard since the start of 2006.—AFP