Crude Oil Prices Push Up To $ 120 per barrel

World oil prices pushed higher on Monday, closing in on 120 dollars after the shutdown in Britain of a major North Sea pipeline added to supply worries, analysts said.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, gained 88 cents to 119.40 dollars after closing 2.46 dollars higher at 118.52 dollars a barrel on Friday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

New York crude reached an intraday record of 119.90 dollars last week.

Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose 96 cents to 117.30 dollars a barrel after a rise of 2.00 dollars to 116.34 dollars on Friday, when the contract hit a record intraday peak of 117.56 dollars.

Britain on Sunday shut down a North Sea pipeline which supplies 40 percent of its oil and gas, sparking panic-buying of petrol after a strike at a major refinery.

The start of a two-day walkout by around 1,200 workers at the Grangemouth refinery, west of Edinburgh, in Scotland, forced the neighbouring Forties pipeline to close down at the same time, operator BP said.

The pipeline brings more than 700,000 barrels of crude oil ashore every day and supplies Britain and international markets. It cannot function without power and steam from Grangemouth.