Oil prices soared in New York today, mirroring sharp gains made in London a day earlier owing to supply disruptions in Nigeria, Africa's biggest producer of crude.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, surged 92 cents to $60.80 a barrel. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery fell 45 cents to $61.09.
The New York oil market had been closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day public holiday in the US. In London on Monday, crude futures had risen almost 3% as weekend unrest in Nigeria slashed output in the country.
Today, Nigerian officials sought to negotiate the release of nine foreign workers being held as 'human shields' by rebel fighters. They were seized on Saturday during an attack on the energy giant Shell's Forcados oil terminal.
Damage to the terminal and surrounding pipelines, combined with fears for the safety of other workers, has forced the firm to cut production by 455,000 barrels of oil per day, equivalent to almost 20% of Nigeria's total output.
Nigeria, the world's sixth-biggest exporter of oil, produces light, sweet crude, which is easier and cheaper to refine than heavy, sour crude, produced by Saudi Arabia.
