Oil Prices Hit Record High After Refinery Strike

Vienna, Austria, April 28, 2008--Oil prices hit an all-time high just short of $120 a barrel today after a weekend refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain's North Sea oil to refineries in the U.K.

The shutdown, along with supply outages in Nigeria, has helped to prop up oil prices against a strengthening dollar.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose to a record $119.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract eased back to $119.04 a barrel by noon in Europe, up 52 cents from Friday's close of $118.52.