* Oil hits new record high of $146.90 a barrel
* Potential supply disruption from Nigeria and Brazil
* Iran tests more missiles in the Gulf
(Updates prices)
By Santosh Menon
LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - Oil leapt $5 to a new record
high above $147 a barrel on Friday, spurred by growing worries
of threats to supplies from Iran and Nigeria and the possibility
of a strike by Brazilian oil workers next week.
U.S. crude <CLc1> was $4.11 at $145.76 a barrel by 1515 GMT,
off highs of $147.27, taking gains in just two sessions to over
$10. It rose $5.60 or 4 percent a barrel on Thursday in a late
burst of buying activity.
London Brent crude was up $3.77 at $145.80 a barrel.
Leading the oil complex was ICE gas oil futures <LGOc1>
which climbed to a new record high of $1,336.75 a tonne amid
strong demand for diesel and aviation fuel.
Analysts said the threat of supply disruptions provided the
bullish backdrop, as the demand picture was unlikely to change
much until after the Beijing Olympics.
"We continue to believe that the downside risk to oil
prices remains relatively low until the non-OECD countries begin
to show greater price and income elasticity response than has
been evident to date," Deutsche Bank analyst Adam Sieminski said
in a note.
HOT SPOTS
Oil, which had been on the retreat for much of the week,
reversed course on Thursday as fears resurfaced of supply
disruptions from potential hot spots, OPEC members Iran and
Nigeria.
A spate of missile tests by Iran, the world's fourth-largest
oil exporter, in the last two days against a backdrop of rising
tensions with Israel and the United States has left the oil
markets worried.
Iran has threatened to strike back at Tel Aviv as well as
U.S. interests in a key oil shipping route if it is attacked
over its nuclear programme, which Israel and the West fears is
aimed at making nuclear weapons.
The United States says it is ready to defend its allies.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the
main militant group in Nigeria's oil-producing region, said it
was abandoning a ceasefire to protest against a British offer to
help tackle lawlessness in the region.
Rebel attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, the world's
eighth-biggest exporter, have also been partly responsible for
the nearly 50 percent rise in prices this year.
Investors have also flocked to oil and other commodities
this year as a hedge against rising inflation and a weak dollar.
Workers at Brazil's Petrobras <PETR4.SA><PBR.N> threatened
to launch a five-day strike next week that would affect all 42
Campos basin offshore platforms, which account for more than 80
percent of daily oil output of around 1.8 million barrels.
Oil has continued to rise despite efforts by top exporter
Saudi Arabia to raise production to its highest rate in three
decades in an effort to tame oil prices.
Qatar Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told Reuters on
Friday that he saw no demand for the additional crude that Saudi
Arabia had pledged to pump.
(Additional reporting by Felicia Loo in Singapore; Editing by
James Jukwey)
