Energy Risk - Oil Analysts Predict Record Prices

Oil analysts raised their 2006 forecast to a record average price of $63 a barrel on concerns that unrest in Nigeria and the Iran nuclear issue will reduce exports.

The average price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange will rise $6.30, or 11 percent, from last year, according to the median estimate of 30 strategists surveyed. Analysts taking part in the survey three months ago predicted that prices would average less than $52 a barrel this year.  "There is so little spare capacity and many risks to supply," said Simon Wardell, an energy analyst with Global Insight in London.  "We expect prices to stay high through the year."

Oil has tripled in the past four years, increasing costs for manufacturers, airlines and motorists. In a poll in Foreign Affairs magazine last month, American consumers said dependence on foreign oil was their second-biggest concern after war casualties in Iraq.