September 21, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 08, 1428

LONDON, Sept 20: The price of New York oil rose on Thursday, heading towards a new record high point above $82 dollars amid tight energy supplies in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of energy.

New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, rose 31 cents to $82.24 per barrel. The contract expires at the close.

The price of New York crude hit an all-time high of $82.51 on Wednesday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) said crude oil reserves had tumbled last week, underscoring global supply tightness.

“The data reinforce concerns that, even if a slowdown in the US economy trimmed domestic oil demand growth, supply constraints both upstream and downstream might extend the recent tightening of (the oil market),” Fimat analyst Antoine Halff said. In London on Thursday, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery fell 24 cents to $78.23 per barrel.

Brent had hit $78.60 on Tuesday -- not far off its record high of $78.64 that was struck in August 2006.Speaking to Iranian radio on Thursday, Iran’s representative to the Opec agreed that 100-dollar oil was possible, but did not give a date as to when it could occur.

“Yes, any outcome is possible. If the explosions in Mexico continue and there is severe cold and if some nations in Opec experience turbulent political conditions and a lot of other issues can make the oil prices go even higher,” Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said.—AFP