Oil Prices Continue to Soar; Top $78 a Barrel

July 14, 2006 3:00 PM, EDT

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il prices topped $78 a barrel for the first time Friday and set another closing-price record of more than $77, as intensifying violence in the Middle East raised concerns of possible supply disruptions, news services reported.

Benchmark light sweet crude for August delivery was as high as $78.40 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before receding to close at $77.03 for the trading week, 33 cents over Thursday's record closing price, Bloomberg reported.

Israel widened its military offensive in Lebanon on Friday, bombing that country’s airport for a second day, igniting fuel storage tanks and cutting the main highway to Syria, as it battled Lebanese militants, the Associated Press reported.

The escalating regional violence helped pushed prices higher, aided by rising global demand and fears that supplies from major producers such as Iran and Nigeria could be interrupted, AP said.

Crude's set record closing-price records Thursday and Friday, topping the previous record of $75.19 a barrel, set last week on July 5.

The Department of Energy is scheduled to release

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