Crude Prices Up Tuesday on Supply Jitters

Security issues in Nigeria and an attack on a Japanese oil tanker pushed crude oil prices to nearly $118 a barrel Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

An attack on a pipeline in Nigeria Monday disrupted one-fifth of the country’s export flow, The Wall Street Journal reported. The attack on the Japanese ship near Yemen didn’t cause much damage but kept supply jitters in the news.

On the exchange, the price of crude reached $117.83 per barrel Tuesday morning, up 35 cents in early trading.

Heating oil prices rose 0.0034 cents to $3.3148 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 0.0024 cents to $2.9815 per gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.21 cents to $10.754 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline was $3.511 per gallon Tuesday, up from Monday’s price of $3.503 per gallon, AAA said.