April 27, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1429

LONDON, April 26: Record-breaking oil prices roared close to $120 this week as traders tracked supply concerns in Britain and Nigeria, and the changing fortunes of the US dollar, analysts said.

Among other commodities, tin was the other star performer, striking an all-time high above $24,600 per ton on sliding stockpiles.

A weak US currency makes dollar-priced raw materials cheaper for foreign buyers and tends to lift demand, whereas a strengthening dollar has the opposite effect.

The euro hit a historic high $1.6019 on Tuesday, before sinking back below 1.56 dollars in the wake of soft eurozone economic data.

OIL: New York crude oil hit a record high $119.90 on Tuesday, before dipping in line with the recovering US currency.

Prices blipped higher on Friday after a vessel chartered by the US military fired warning shots at two speedboats believed to be Iranian that approached it in the Gulf, according to a US defence official.

London Brent oil hit a record $117.51 on Friday as fears also grew over a looming strike at one of Britain’s biggest oil refineries.

Workers at the Grangemouth plant, west of Edinburgh in Scotland, are refusing to work on Sunday and Monday in a row over pensions.

As a result, British energy giant BP may have to close the Forties pipeline that brings in oil from the North Sea and delivers a third of the country’s daily output.

The industrial action has sparked concern over potential shortages of motor fuel in Britain.

BP was expected to make a decision on whether the pipeline will have to close on Saturday while the Grangemouth facility could take up to two weeks to get fully up and running again after the strike.

In Nigeria, the most prominent armed group in the southern oil-producing region said Friday it had sabotaged a supply pipeline belonging to Anglo-Dutch energy group Shell, the latest in recent weeks.

Shell officials could not immediately confirm the latest attack.

On Tuesday, Shell announced a production loss of 169,000 barrels per day following the sabotage of its key supply pipelines in the region.

Royal Dutch Shell, Nigeria’s largest oil operator accounting for around half of the country’s 2.1 million barrels per day output, has seen a wave of attacks on its facilities in recent months.

Prices were also lifted this week by oil cartel Opec’s reluctance to raise output in the face of mounting international concern over soaring energy costs.

By Friday, New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, was higher at $117.74 from $115.77 a week earlier.

Brent North Sea crude for June jumped to $115.91 from $113.21.

BASE METALS: Tin prices hit another record peak but all other base metals declined, due largely to the recovering dollar, traders said.

Consolidation remains the name of the game, said William Adams of BaseMetals.com.

Going forward, the metals most at risk from a stronger dollar are those that have weak fundamentals or have been underpinned by safe-haven buying. The price of tin for delivery in three months meanwhile reached 24,602 dollars per ton on Thursday, which was the highest reading since 1989 when it was re-introduced on the London market.

Copper entered consolidation mode after striking a record $8,880 per ton the previous week on the back of supply disruptions in Chile.

By Friday, copper for delivery in three months eased to 8,520 dollars per ton on the LME from $8,610 a week earlier.

Three-month aluminium slid to $2,959 per ton from $3,060.

Three-month nickel fell to $28,901 per ton from $29,250.

Three-month lead dropped to $2,735 per ton from$2,810.

Three-month zinc was down to $2,235 per ton from $2,315.

Three-month tin jumped to $24,745 per ton from $21,350.

GOLD AND SILVER: Gold and silver lost their shine.

The precious metals complex declined across the board as the dollar rebounded against the euro, said BNP Paribas analyst Anne-Laure Tremblay.

Gold had hit a record $1,032.70 an ounce on March 17, four days after the yellow metal broke through $1,000 for the first time.

On the London Bullion Market, gold dropped to $891.50 per ounce at Friday’s late fixing from $908.75 a week earlier.

Silver sank to 16.68 dollars per ounce from $18.18.

PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM: Prices of platinum and palladium also fell.

However, platinum could see more record highs this year on the back of flagging output in South Africa, the independent precious metals consultancy GFMS forecast on Thursday.

For 2008, we remain positive —and are forecasting trading between 1,700 and $2,400 per ounce for platinum, the London-based group said in its annual report on platinum and sister metal palladium.—AFP