THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Crude Futures Top $66 On Fresh Supply Concerns: "Civil unrest in Nigeria, where oil workers were kidnapped in recent weeks, flared anew with Royal Dutch Shell PLC evacuating workers in the western Delta region.": Wed 18 January 2006

Fueled by disruptions in Nigerian oil supplies and tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions, crude-oil futures soared by more than $2, topping $66 a barrel for the first time since September.

Crude oil for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up $2.39 at $66.31 a barrel, the highest level since Sept. 29, leaving some traders to suggest the political worries could push prices above the previous intraday high of $70.85, hit on Aug. 30 after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Brent crude-oil futures for March delivery on the Intercontinental Exchange in London settled $1.72 higher at $64.90 a barrel.

Civil unrest in Nigeria, where oil workers were kidnapped in recent weeks, flared anew with Royal Dutch Shell PLC evacuating workers in the western Delta region.

"It's all about Nigeria and Iran on the crude," said Tom Bentz, energy broker at BNP Paribas in New York, referring to two major OPEC producers with output totaling 6.5 million barrels a day. "If that output's off the market, we can't make up for that" without tapping emergency government-held stockpiles.

"It certainly looks like we'll be back over $70," Mr. Bentz said. "I thought we had peaked for a while, but it's looking more like we're heading for new highs."

Shell, which Friday said about 106,000 barrels a day of Forcados crude was lost because of vandalism on pipelines, said yesterday that it couldn't meet its obligations to deliver a further 115,000 barrels a day of Nigerian crude because of "technical" problems.

Nigeria pumps about 2.5 million barrels of crude oil a day. The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show the U.S. imported nearly 1.2 million barrels a day in November 2005, ranking it as the fourth-biggest crude-oil supplier in the month.

Trading officials said that Exxon Mobil Corp. had informed them the company had evacuated nonessential staff and suspended loadings from its Qua Iboe field for security reasons but that production was unaffected. Exxon declined to comment on the reports.

Chevron Corp. said it was monitoring the situation in Nigeria, where it produces about 145,000 barrels a day, but it didn't plan to reduce staff or curtail output.

Along with the surge in crude prices, gasoline and heating-oil futures posted large gains on news of refinery maintenance shutdowns. Cold weather in Russia, meanwhile, diminished the prospects for exports of heating oil to the U.S., helping to push futures prices up 4.5% on the day, traders said.

Gasoline for February delivery surged 5.3%, helped by the refinery news, to $1.8233 a gallon, the highest price since Oct. 12.

Adding to the bullishness in the oil market was a report by the International Energy Agency that said global energy demand is still expected to rise 2.2% in 2006, while growth in crude supplies from non-OPEC countries was revised downward.

Oil prices have been pushed higher amid simmering tensions between Iran and Western nations over its nuclear program, which have fueled fears that Iran could disrupt crude supplies from its field. Iran decided last week to restart its nuclear program after a 2½-year suspension.

The West fears Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran says it only intends to develop civilian nuclear-power plants. Iran is the second-largest crude-oil producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

In other commodities markets:

COCOA: Prices on the New York Board of Trade surged to four-month highs on a second day of social unrest in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, and continued purchasing activity by speculative funds. March cocoa rose $53 to $1,571 a metric ton.

COFFEE: Nybot futures climbed to seven-month highs on speculative-fund buying. March coffee rose 3.85 cents to $1.2380 a pound.

Write to David Bird at david.bird@dowjones.com