* Signs emerging of oil demand destruction
* IMF warns oil becoming scarcer and pricier
* Middle East unrest adds $20-25 oil premium
By Randy Fabi
SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. and Brent crude futures
climbed to their highest in 2-1/2 years on Friday as supply
worries stemming from attacks on Libyan oil fields and unrest in
the Middle East offset demand concerns spurred by a major
aftershock in Japan.
U.S. crude for May delivery <CLc1> rose to an intraday high
of $111.19, the highest since September 2008. The contract
traded up 75 cents at $111.05 a barrel by 0342 GMT.
Brent oil <LCOc1> was up 65 cents at $123.32, after touching
a peak of $123.40 earlier, highest since August 2008.
Surging oil, along with record gold and food prices, have
stoked inflationary concerns for governments worldwide due to
the potential adverse impact on economic growth of the rising
cost of foodstuffs and raw materials.
"Oil prices are at a point where we could begin to see
demand destruction," said Mike Wittner, Head of Commodities
Research at Societe Generale.
"It already looks like the United States may just be showing
some signs of demand destruction. The United States is always
the country where you see the impact the most because there are
no subsidies and hardly any tax burden."
Unrest in the Arab world has added a $20-25 premium to oil
prices since the toppling of regimes in Tunisia and Egypt in the
last few months, Wittner said.
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the global
economy was entering a period of scarcer oil, adding that
tighter fundamentals could cause price spikes rivaling the 2008
run-up that drove oil to nearly $150 a barrel. []
In Libya, rebels and forces loyal to embattled leader
Muammar Gaddafi exchanged accusations over who had attacked oil
fields and infrastructure vital to both sides. []
Rebels say government attacks on three different
installations in the east have halted production of the oil they
desperately need to finance the uprising against Gaddafi.
The seven-week old civil war has cut Libya's oil output by
80 percent, a senior government official said.
The Liberian-registered tanker Equator sailed from the port
of Marsa el-Hariga, apparently with the first cargo of crude
sold by rebels since their uprising began in February. Oil
traders said the cargo, vital to fund the uprising, was headed
for China. []
Fellow OPEC member Nigeria postponed parliamentary elections
again in some areas, but polls will go ahead in most of the
country on Saturday as planned. []
Worries over OPEC supplies offset demand worries exacerbated
by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, which is recovering
from last month's devastating quake and tsunami that crippled a
nuclear power plant and damaged some refineries.
Large parts of northern Japan were without electricity
following the latest of many aftershocks, the biggest since last
month's quake. []
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
