Oil prices hover around nine-month high

LONDON: World oil prices dipped on profit-taking on Tuesday but remained close to their highest levels for more than nine months because of concern about global supplies, traders said.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for August delivery fell 13 cents to $72.05 a barrel. The contract had reached $72.25 on Monday, which was last seen on August 28, 2006.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, slipped five cents to $69.04 per barrel on Tuesday. It struck $69.15 on Monday -- the highest point since September 1.

"Oil has held onto a lot of the gains with disruptions (ongoing) in Nigeria," Base Commodities analysts said.

The Nigerian government made several 11th-hour proposals to avert a crippling general strike slated to start tomorrow, partially meeting union demands, sources close to the negotiations said.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and the world's sixth largest exporter, accounting for 2.6 million barrels a day, but a quarter of this has been lost due to unrest in the volatile oil-producing south. A general strike, meanwhile, would likely affect oil exports.

"Other factors underpinning oil prices include concerns over the possibility of heightened tensions in the Middle East, continuing worries over the adequacy of US gasoline supplies and recent indications that OPEC is unlikely to raise production ceilings in the near-term," the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said.