Alaska Oil Pipeline Shutdown Pushes Crude Near $77 a Barrel

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il prices rose more than $2 a barrel to near $77 Monday after oil company BP closed a pipeline in Alaska removing the equivalent of 8% of U.S. crude production, news services reported.

The $76.98 per-barrel futures price on the New York Mercantile Exchange was just a nickel off the all-time record closing price set July 14, Bloomberg reported, though the intraday price had reached an overall record $78.40 earlier that day.

The intraday price Monday reached a high of $77.30, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy approved the release of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve if requested to make up for the shortfall, Bloomberg said.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told reporters in Baltimore DOE had not received any requests yet, but that he was "obviously concerned" about the situation.

BP reported a pipeline leak in the Prudhoe Bay oil field in northern Alaska, the Associated Press reported.

The oil firm said production will be reduced by about 400,000 barrels a day, close to 8% of U.S. production or about 2.6% of U.S. supply including imports, AP said, citing DOE data.