NEW YORK, July 5 (Xinhua) -- New York crude oil price surged to record high Wednesday amid fears over the tensions caused by the reported missile test-firing by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

    New York's main contract, li ght sweet crude for delivery in August, leapt 1.26 dollars to a record closing high of 75.19 dollars a barrel. Prices rose as high as 75.40 dollars a barrel, an all-time intraday record.

    Brent North Sea crude for August delivery jumped 1.46 dollars to 73.98 dollars per barrel in closing trades in London on Wednesday after an in traday high of 74.22 dollars.

    The United Nations Security Council met Wednesday for an emergency meeting to discuss the missile tests by DPRK.

    Pyongyang has remained silent so far over the reports. Enditem

    Special Report: World concern about oil prices

    Video:  DPRK test-fires 6 missiles: report

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The U.S. public protest against soaring oil prices outside the White House, US, June 30. (Xinhua/Reuters photo)

Oil prices jump to record above $75

    BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Oil prices jumped to a record above 75 dollars a barrel on Wednesday, fuelled by rising demand for gasoline.

    Light sweet crude for August delivery briefly surged to 75.40 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before easing back to settle at 75.19 dollars, an increase of 1.26.

    Gasoline futures jumped by more than 5.7 cents to settle at 2.2758 dollars a gallon, heating oil closed at 2.0626 dollars a gallon, up 3.4 cents.

    The previous intraday record for front-month oil futures was 75.35 dollars, set on April 21.

    Oil prices are now roughly 26 percent higher than a year ago, but still below all-time inflation-adjusted highs of around 90 dollars.

    But with global oil demand approaching 85 million barrels per day, traders are extremely nervous about the possibility of any supply disruptions, especially because there is less than 2 million barrels a day of spare production capacity, most of it in Saudi Arabia.

    A protracted diplomatic standoff between the West and Iran, OPEC's No. 2 oil supplier, has kept a high floor beneath prices. Markets already have been jittery about Iran's nuclear program and violence in Nigeria and the Middle East.

    The latest spike in oil comes one day before the U.S. government releases its closely watched weekly petroleum supply report Thursday.

    Gasoline supplies are expected to show a decline for a second straight week as demand runs about 1 percent above year ago levels for the past month. Enditem

(Agencies)