Oil prices set a new record near $147 a barrel Friday, boosted by concerns over possible disruption of tight global supplies amid tensions over Iran's launch of test missiles and the threatened renewal of oil-related violence in Nigeria. By the afternoon in Europe, light, sweet crude for August delivery was up $4.93 on the day at $146.58 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, it hit a new trading high of $146.90 before retreating. The contract rose $5.60 in the overnight floor session to $141.65 a barrel – after losing nearly $10 Monday and Tuesday and then gaining a penny Wednesday. In London, August Brent crude was up $4.84 to $146.47 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. The contract rose as high as $147.25 earlier Friday. “There's always a fear premium in pricing. “The tensions in Iran and the threat of supply disruption will help support oil prices,” said Jeff Brown, managing director of FACTS Global Energy in Singapore. JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria, said the news about Iran, Nigeria, as well as a reported threat of a strike by oil workers in Brazil were “enough to wake the market from its two
