LONDON, June 29: The price of New York crude oil struck a fresh 10-month high above $70 a barrel on Friday on supply concerns in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of energy, traders said.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, reached $70.75 -- the highest level since August 28, 2006.

New York crude later stood at $70.25 per barrel in US pit deals, up 68 cents on Thursday’s close.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for August delivery jumped by 48 cents to $71.00 per barrel in electronic trading.

Analysts said worries about tight US energy supplies were supporting prices.

“With US refineries starting to come back on line, US crude oil stocks will fall,” Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakobs said.

Crude prices had closed more than a dollar higher on Wednesday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported that American gasoline (petrol) stockpiles fell by 700,000 barrels to 202.6 million barrels in the week ending June 22.

That surprised the market, as analysts had expected a gain of 1.0 million barrels.—AFP