NEW YORK, Aug 13 (AFP) - New York's main oil contract bubbled to a record high Tuesday after Russian oil titan Yukos hit a legal block in efforts to pay a crippling tax bill, exacerbating oil supply fears.
New York's benchmark light sweet crude contract for delivery in September spiked at an all-time high 46.95 dollars a barrel before finishing at a record settlement of 46.75 dollars, up 70 cents on the day.
Brent North Sea for delivery in October jumped 30 cents to 42.99 dollars a barrel.
"It is still continuation of this risk premium (related to terrorism and possible supply interruptions)," said Fimat USA market analyst Marshall Steeves.
Yukos' outlook was bathed in uncertainty, he said.
Yukos wishes to use its stake in rival Sibneft to pay off 3.4 billion dollars in back taxes claimed by the state.
But a Moscow court Tuesday rejected its legal bid for the right to do so.
The oil titan is struggling to pay railways to carry on transporting oil to customers.
"Yukos lost their appeal but on the other end railways are saying they will continue to ship their oil," Steeves said.
"It is hard to get a handle on what's going on there."
Iraq apparently planned to re-open a southern pipeline within 48 hours, but fighting put the scheme in doubt, he said.
Export of crude from Iraq's southern oil terminals has been cut by half for a week because of threats to infrastructure from Shiite Muslim militia, an oil company official said in the southern port of Basra.
"One of the two pipelines is closed for security reasons and pumping stands at around 36,000-42,000 barrels an hour", against 80,000 normally, the official of the Southern Oil Company told AFP.
Of this amount, 25,000 barrels are going to the port of Basra and the 15,000-17,000 to the terminal of Khor al-Amaya, the official said, adding that one tanker was loading at Basra and three waiting.
Another tanker was loading at Khor al-Amaya, he added.
Traders had breathed easier earlier in the day following news that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez comfortably won a weekend referendum on his mandate, easing fears of instability in the country's oil industry.
The Venezuelan leader had warned that an opposition victory in the recall would lead to the privatization of the state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and prompt oil workers to strike.
"The maintenance of the status quo has eased concerns about possible short-term disruptions to oil production and exports from Venezuela," said Juliette Kerr, an analyst for the World Markets Research Centre, which has its headquarters in London.
But she added: "The lack of spare capacity among OPEC producers, uncertainty about Yukos production and attacks on oil installations in Iraq means that any sign of possible supply disruptions from elsewhere has the potential to push oil prices even higher."