Oil hits record over $126/bbl as bull run goes on

By Robert Campbell

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil jumped to a new intraday record of $126.20 a barrel on Friday, extending gains to more than 11 percent since the start of the month on fuel supply concerns and a rush of speculator buying.

U.S. crude for June delivery was up $2.03 at $125.72 a barrel by 1:15 p.m. EDT. London Brent crude rose $2.38 to $125.22 a barrel.

"It appears that any calculations that included waiting for the next pullback were discarded on the European opening this morning as waves of buying materialized, particularly from speculative interests," said Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president at MF Global.

Oil has surged since slipping as low as $110.53 a barrel on May 1. Investors have seized on disruptions to crude oil supplies in the North Sea and Nigeria as well as galloping demand for distillate fuels, a category that includes diesel fuel and heating oil.

Strong demand for diesel fuel in Europe, along with the growing use of distillates to power generators to supplement strained power grids in fast growing emerging markets, have cut into stocks of disillate fuel and pushed up prices sharply.

"Lingering geopolitical fears and high heating oil prices are helping the market, but the speed of the rise is too fast," said Tatsuo Kageyama, analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in Tokyo.

The steady rise in crude oil prices once again has turned the spotlight on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which for months has insisted it has no control over the factors it blames for pushing up the price of oil, including speculation and the weak U.S. dollar.

An OPEC source said the group might consider boosting output before its next scheduled meeting in September should crude oil prices keep rising. But Ecuador's oil minister said there were no plans for an early meeting.