China's CNOOC higher in Hong Kong as crude price hits new high

Oil firm CNOOC Ltd was higher after crude oil prices crossed 120 usd a barrel for the first time in New York overnight following fresh unrest in Nigeria and rising tensions between the West and Iran.

At 10:02 am, CNOOC was up 0.24 hkd or 1.78 pct at 13.74, while the Hang Seng index was down 74.90 points or 0.29 pct at 26,109.05.

Refiner China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was down 0.16 hkd or 1.84 pct at 8.55, while PetroChina, which also has refining operations, was down 0.14 hkd or 1.16 pct at 11.96.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, surged to an intraday high of 120.20 usd overnight before closing at a record 119.97 usd, a hefty gain of 3.65 usd from Friday's close.

Fresh militant attacks in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, have forced oil major Shell to shut down more of its oil production, reports said. Shell accounts for about one-half of Nigeria's 2.1 mln barrels-per-day output. Tensions between Iran and the West are pushing oil prices higher. Iran said yesterday it will reject any proposal that violates its right to the full nuclear fuel cycle. (XFN-ASIA)