LONDON, July 13: The price of London’s Brent oil jumped close to $78 on Friday, nearing an all-time high point as crude futures were buoyed by speculative buying amid tight US fuel supplies, analysts said.

Brent North Sea crude for August delivery leapt to $77.60 -- the highest point since August 10, 2006 and about one dollar away from the record of $78.64 hit three days earlier.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, hit $73.75 -- last seen on August 15, 2006.

“The speculative assault on crude remains very impressive,” said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.

Prices were also lifted by news that the International Energy Agency has lifted its 2008 forecast for oil demand by 2.5 per cent to 88.2 million barrels a day.

Over the course of the past week, Brent oil prices have jumped by $2.14 per barrel, while New York crude has surged by $1.19.

“Oil prices saw strong gains in the past two weeks, with fresh fund and speculative money flowing into the market, amid strong demand in the US during the summer driving season, as (US) gasoline stockpiles remained below usual levels for this time of the year,” said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.

“Geopolitical concerns, including continuous troubles in Nigeria, and various refinery outrages helped to push the market higher.”

Later Friday, Brent crude stood at $77.30 in electronic deals, up 90 cents from Thursday, while New York crude showed a gain of 95 cents at $73.45 per barrel.

It also emerged on Wednesday that US gasoline or petrol reserves had climbed by 1.2 million barrels to 205.6 million in the week ending July 6. That beat analysts’ forecasts of a gain of 825,000 barrels.

But gasoline stocks were 3.8 per cent lower than at the same stage last year.

Traders also assessed the latest monthly oil market report from the International Energy Agency.

The IEA predicted on Friday that tightness on the global oil market would ease next year, forecasting that supplies would exceed robust demand.

“Overall, both in terms of spare upstream capacity and refinery flexibility, 2008 looks at this stage to be slightly more comfortable than 2006 and 2007,” the IEA said.—AFP