http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/commoditiesenergyoilprice;_ylt=AjML3TdsC8x7m7v8ldldDS2AsnsA

Oil records shattered as price spike extends

Oil prices spiked to new highs Tuesday in the latest frenzied trade driven by concerns over violence in key producer Nigeria and the weak US currency.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, leapt as high as 122.73 dollars per barrel, an all-time intraday high, before settling to a closing record high of 121.84 dollars, up 1.87 dollars.

London's Brent North Sea crude for June also reached an all-time high at 120.99 dollars a barrel, before slipping back to settle at a new high of 120.31 dollars for a gain of 2.32 dollars.

Runaway oil prices have almost doubled in the past year and have surged by more than 20 dollars since the start of 2008.

"Market headlines are dominated by the impact of currency fluctuations, geopolitics in the form of actual and potential threats to supply in Nigeria, Iraq and Iran, plus better-than-expected recent US economic data," said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish.

"Of these three drivers, we think it is supply losses that are the key driver at present.".......................

Supply losses, AKA Peak Oil is the key driver of the growing world energy crisis.