Oil rose above $133 today due to lingering supply concerns from key oil producer Nigeria and a partial shut-in at the North Sea oilfields.
London Brent crude rose $1.46 to $133.03 a barrel by 11.36am, marking a larger gain than US crude. US crude rose $1.10 cents to $133.29. Last week, it struck a record high of $135.09.
Nigeria's army confirmed on Monday there had been an explosion at an oil facility owned by Royal Dutch Shell, hours after Niger Delta rebels claimed to have blown up a pipeline.
Impact on output from the most recent blast was not immediately clear. "Nigeria continues to experience supply problems," Robert Laughlin with MF Global said in a research note.
Oil output in Nigeria, an OPEC member and Africa's top producer, has been erratic in recent months due to repeated rebel attacks to oil facilities and a workers' strike in April.
In Europe, Norwegian oil and gas producer StatoilHydro said Statfjord A in the North Sea, which produces 19,000 barrels of oil per day, remains shut after an oil leak on
Saturday.
The leak halted output of about 138,000 barrels per day at Statfjord and the two linked fields. Output at the two fields has since been restored. Longer-term worries that supply will struggle to keep up with demand over the next few years also continue to support prices.
Another OPEC member, the United Arab Emirates, said yesterday it was ready to boost oil output if necessary.
Oil prices have climbed by around a third since the start of the year as investors seeking a hedge against inflation and the falling US dollar pile into commodities.
The US dollar held around near one-month lows against a basket of major currencies today.