LONDON, Aug 22: Oil prices rose on Monday amid ongoing unrest in Ecuador, southern Iraq and Nigeria, while hurricanes remained a threat to installations in the Gulf of Mexico, dealers said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, climbed 30 cents to $65.65 per barrel in early trade. The contract expires at the close.

The price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in October added 49 cents to $64.85 per barrel. London trading halted for six hours early on Monday because of technical problems.

“Ecuador has kept some people’s attention, and we had the power cut in Iraq which has stopped exports from Basra, and there are community disturbances in Nigeria which is affecting production,” said Investec analyst Bruce Evers.

“There is also a report saying that there are another six major hurricanes due before the end of the season” in the US Gulf of Mexico, he added.

The 2005 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season lasts through to November 30.

“The damage to the platforms can knock production out for months,” Evers said, adding that British energy giant BP had been badly hit last year.

Supply concerns have been heightened in recent weeks partly by problem-hit United States refineries, pushing New York futures to a historic high of $67.10 earlier this month.

“The market is still very, very nervous,” Evers said. “I’m absolutely convinced we’ll see $70 before the end of the year. Prices can go higher.”

Ecuador’s government has deployed troops to its Amazon region and claimed an end to the civil unrest, but protesters declared only a truce in their fight for a larger slice of oil revenues. Ecuador is the fifth-largest crude producer in South America.

Elsewhere, Iraq resumed oil exports from its southern fields after a 16-hour suspension due to a power outage which may have been caused by sabotage, a spokesman of the state-owned South Oil Co said on Monday.

Oil exports from the fields had stopped from midnight Sunday, said spokesman Samir Jassim Maksoufi.—AFP