Crude: Little By Tittle Makes A Mickle

Crude-oil futures closed at slightly higher point Monday after getting to a new record near 120 dollars a barrel as a weekend refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain's North Sea oil to its refineries.

Rebel attacks in Nigeria and tension in Persian Gulf also fanned concerns about supply disruptions.

Crude oil for June delivery climbed more than 1 dollar to a new high of 119.93 dollars a barrel in overnight electronic trading, surpassing the previous high of 119.90 dollars hit last week. It closed up 23 cents at 118.75 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, strikes that cut crude supplies from the North Sea and Nigeria supported prices Monday. BP PLC on Sunday shut down the Forties Pipeline System that carries more than 700,000 barrels of oil a day to Britain because of a 48-hour walkout by employees at a refinery in central Scotland.

In Nigeria, workers at an ExxonMobil Corp. joint venture cut production by an unspecified amount to demand more pay. Militant attacks on oil infrastructure have also cut production of Nigeria's light, sweet crude, which is easily refined.

Energy investors will be closely watching the Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday on interest rates as lower rates tend to weaken the dollar. If, as expected, the Fed lowers a key interest rate by another quarter percentage point and signals that it will temporarily hold off on any future rate cuts, the dollar could strengthen, and oil might fall.

U.S. crude oil futures rose sharply Friday, lifted by supply disruptions in Nigeria and Britain and news that a ship hired by the U.S. military fired warning shots at approaching boats in the Persian Gulf.