ENERGY

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as Iran clamped down on anti-government protesters and unrest in the Middle East threatened to keep energy prices high for months to come.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery gained $2.66 to settle at $US99.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

In London, Brent crude gained $2.42 to $US114.22 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The recent surge in oil has pushed up gasoline prices in the US by nearly 20 cents per gallon in the past week. That's the sharpest increase since 2005, according to the Oil Price Information Service. Americans are now paying roughly $75.6 million more per day to fill up than a week ago.

Oil prices surged 13 percent last week, peaking above $100 per barrel, as Libyan protesters expanded their control over the country.

Analysts added that they're still concerned about unrest in major oil producers Iran and Algeria, as well as increasing threats facing Iraq's oil supplies.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil added 5cents at $2.996 a gallon and gasoline rose 5cents to $2.9457 per gallon. Natural gas for April delivery fell 14 cents to $3.901 per 1,000 cubic feet.

PRECIOUS METALS

In April contracts, gold settled $21.30 higher at $US1,431.20 per ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex. Platinum ended $35.90 higher at $US1,845.10 per ounce.

May silver rose 60.7 cents to settle at $US34.427 per ounce. June palladium was $17.10 higher at $US816.70.

INDUSTRIAL METALS

Copper retreated from two-week highs on Tuesday as worries over Middle East unrest boosted oil prices and ignited inflation concerns, which encouraged investors to sell risky assets such as base metals.

Copper closed ring trading at $9,860 a tonne, down from a close of $9,885 on Monday. The metal used in power and construction earlier reached a two-week high at $9,942 a tonne, nearing record peaks of $10,190 a tonne from Feb. 15.

Aluminium fell back from 2 1/2 year highs, while worries over supplies from the Middle East cushioned prices.

In LME inventory data, copper stocks fell by 725 tonnes to 420,275 tonnes.

High stocks have weighed on prices of aluminium used in transport, packaging and construction. But that has been offset by conflict in the Middle East, which houses significant aluminium smelting capacity.

Three-month aluminium finished at $2,610 a tonne, up from $2,600 on Monday. It earlier hit $2,617.25 a tonne, its highest since September 2008 on fears of supply problems in the Middle East and North Africa.

Global aluminium supply this year is expected at around 45 million tonnes.

Zinc finished at $2,515 a tonne from $2,520. Lead ended at $2,555 from $2,562, while tin fell to $32,200 from $32,320.

Nickel closed at $28,775 a tonne from $28,990 on Monday.

Source: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/oil-prices-climb-on-tuesday-20110302-1bdkr.html