LONDON -- Crude oil prices rose more than a dollar to top $61 per barrel in trading yesterday as concerns over supplies from Nigeria and other exporting countries mounted.
Crude for March delivery expired at $61.20 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Tuesday trading, an increase of $1.32.
Nigeria, one of the world's largest exporters, has been gripped by a nearly week-long series of militant attacks that have shut in nearly 20 percent of its oil supply. Over the weekend, militants attacked a major tanker terminal and blew up a pipeline.
Because of the attacks, Royal Dutch Shell, the biggest foreign operator in Nigeria, has suspended 455,000 barrels per day of output.
Last year, the United States imported an average 1.1 million barrels of crude a day from Nigeria, making it the fifth-biggest source of imports, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
"The biggest concern is Nigeria's sabotage attacks over the weekend. But other supply concerns, like OPEC and Ecuador, are accumulating," Hiroyuki Kitakata, director at Barclays Capital in Tokyo, told Reuters.
Violent protests in Ecuador on Monday led state oil firm Petroecuador to declare "force majeure" and suspend its 144,000 barrels per day of crude exports.
And there are continuing concerns over Iran. Published reports indicate that China and Iran are close to finalizing a deal potentially worth $100 billion to develop Iran's Yadavaran oil field.
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the China and Iran are trying to conclude the deal over the next few weeks, before potential sanctions are imposed on Iran for its nuclear activities.
The potential agreement would provide China with anywhere from 180,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil per day, according to estimates. It would be the latest of a growing list of agreements with exporting nations that include Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Australia.
Meanwhile, late Tuesday the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) reported that gasoline prices for the week ending Feb. 20 averaged $2.24 per gallon, a 4.4 cent drop over the previous week and the lowest weekly average since prices averaged $2.238 the week of January 2. Still, prices remain 33.5 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.