LONDON, June 26: World oil prices jumped on Monday, lifted by tensions surrounding major crude producer Iran and amid strong demand for energy in the United States, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, gained 68 cents to $71.55 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for August delivery also climbed 54 cents to $70.44 per barrel in electronic deals.

“Two main factors explain that the oil prices remain high: the pressure of Iran on the geopolitical front and the fact that the US demand is expected to continue to rise,” Alaron Trading analyst Phil Flynn said.

Crude futures had risen last week on the back of strong gasoline or petrol demand data from the United States. According to the US Department of Energy, demand for motor fuel in America was close to daily records.

Meanwhile, regarding Iran, the Islamic Republic said Monday that it would only use its vast oil resources as a weapon of last resort in the international dispute over its nuclear programme.

The comments came the day after Iran's oil minister threatened to use oil as a weapon, or possibly disrupt its energy exports, if the country's “interests are attacked”, amid mounting pressure on Tehran’s hard-line leadership to freeze sensitive atomic work.

The market also digested news from Iraq, which Sunday said its oil production stood at more than 2.5 million barrels a day, a record since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The country's Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said on US television that Iraq hoped to be producing 4.3 million barrels by 2010 and to be challenging Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer by 2015.—AFP