World oil prices ended lower on Monday despite notching a record high earlier in the day as the Norwegian government moved to end an oil workers' labor dispute that threatened shipments from the world's third largest exporter. U.S. light crude fell 52 cents to $54.65 a barrel after setting a fresh peak of $55.67 in electronic trade before New York's open-outcry session began. London Brent slipped 47 cents to $50.75 after posting a record $51.90. The losses came after Oslo's center-right government intervened to end a strike by rig workers, averting an escalation that threatened to shut all of the country's 3.0 million barrels per day of oil output. Norway, which ranks behind Saudi Arabia and Russia in exports, has emergency powers to end strikes when they threaten oil and gas output. So far, the four-month strike closed just 55,000 barrels per day of oil output. Oil prices are up roughly 70 percent since the start of the year as rising world demand strains supplies and a supply outage in the Gulf of Mexico disrupts the normal stockbuild of heating fuel ahead of winter. --More 2358 Local Time 2058 GMT
