LONDON, March 31: World oil prices surged Thursday, pushed upwards by a wave of speculative buying, with interest ignited by a Goldman Sachs study that suggested levels of more than 100 dollars a barrel, dealers said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, soared $1.41 to $55.40 per barrel in early deals, after peaking at $55.55.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in May rocketed $2.04 to $54.13 a barrel, after a peak of $54.40.

“We seem to be going through another wave of fund buying ... not only by the hedge funds but also by the pension funds,” said Societe Generale analyst Deborah White.

“Commodities are so hot right now. What has set off the wave of buying today is the Goldman Sachs report that talked about a super spike,” she added.

Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun Murti predicted (US) oil prices are in the early stages of what it called a “super spike” period.

They raised their upper range forecast from a previous estimate of 80 dollars per barrel to 105 dollars per barrel on the back of “strength in oil demand and economic growth, especially in the United States and China”, Murti said.

Prices would remain “sustainably higher for the next few years” according to the report, White added.

Oil prices were also supported Thursday by supply worries ahead of a likely strike by energy workers in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest exporter of crude.—AFP