NEW YORK, May 5: Oil prices crossed $120 a barrel in New York on Monday following fresh unrest in Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, and rising tensions between the West and Iran.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, briefly hit $120.20, before slipping back at 1520 GMT to $120, a gain of $3.68 from the closing price on Friday.

In London, Brent crude for June delivery hit an intraday record high of $118.50 around 1515 GMT. It later traded up $3.24 at $117.80.

Trading volume in London was light as Britain marked a bank holiday.

Oil rallied close to a record $120 a barrel last week on supply concerns linked to workers’ strikes at a Scottish refinery and in Nigeria.

With the strikes resolved, crude prices were largely driven by movement in the US dollar, according to analysts.

“This stubborn oil bull just refuses to die,” said Phil Flynn at Alaron Trading.

Oil prices surged on Monday on supply jitters from Nigeria and geopolitical tension in Iran, analysts said.“Nigeria is the lingering hotspot the markets will be focusing on,” said MF Global analyst Ed Meir.

“The news over the weekend has been mixed; ExxonMobil said it has restarted 300,000 barrels per day of Nigerian production out of total of 800,000 sidelined earlier, but there are reports of fresh violence, as another pipeline explosion has shut in more oil production,” he added.

“A few oil delivery lines are affected and some oil has spilled into the environment,” a Shell spokesman said.

Prices also got support from tensions between Iran and the West.

Oil prices rose three per cent on Friday on better-than-expected employment figures in the United States which raised hope the world’s biggest economy might avoid a recession.

The bombing by Turkish warplanes of Kurdish rebel bases inside Iraq and the strengthening of the dollar against the euro also supported oil prices.

Meanwhile, recent positive sentiment out of the United States has improved the demand prospects for most commodities.—AFP