Oil shocks as futures hit new record

Oil futures prices advanced to a new high yesterday as a strike began in Nigeria, Africa’s largest exporter of crude, exacerbating global supply concerns at a time of strong demand and reduced output in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf of Mexico.

Worries about Russian oil supplies also persist as oil giant Yukos, already struggling to repay a multibillion-dollar back-tax bill, got hit Monday with 1.34 billion dollars in fines.