World oil prices continued to fall today as traders took profits from this week's record-breaking run, on the back of the strengthening US currency and rising US crude stockpiles.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, dropped $1.21 to $117.09 a barrel this evening. The May contract had struck a record high $119.90 before expiring on Tuesday.
London's Brent North Sea crude for June delivery lost 85 cents to $115.61, after hitting a lifetime peak of $116.75 on Tuesday.
The US Energy Information Administration said yesterday that US crude reserves rose by 2.4 million barrels last week, beating market expectations for a 1.5-million-barrel gain.
However, prices were still being supported by ongoing supply worries. Talks aimed at heading off a planned strike at one of Britain's key oil refineries broke down last night, a union spokesman said.
The collapse of discussions between officials from Unite and Ineos, which owns the Grangemouth refinery between Glasgow and Edinburgh, means 1,200 workers at the site will go on strike on Sunday and Monday.
Ineos has begun shutting down Grangemouth, the biggest refinery in Scotland, producing 210,000 barrels of oil a day, and has warned of fuel shortages later this week if the strike were to go ahead.
Traders were also monitoring production problems in Nigeria, which is the largest crude producer in Africa. Earlier this week, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell said it had reduced output by 165,000 bpd following the sabotage of its supply pipelines to the Bonny export terminal in southern Nigeria.
Nigeria has a daily oil output of 2.1 million barrels but unrest in the crude-rich Niger Delta has cut exports by a quarter since January 2006.
