Brent crude rules above $121 a barrel

Prices of North Sea Brent crude rose more than $2 to above $121 a barrel on Monday, helped by delays in Nigerian election and a strike in Gabon, which added to supply fears of the market already hit by the Middle East crisis.

Brent crude was almost unchanged at just above $121 a barrel while US light sweet crude futures inched down 0.2 per cent to $108.27 a barrel.

Iran oil minister's statement that that there was no need for OPEC to hold a meeting to address high oil prices also supported sentiment.

Oil prices also got a boost from Friday's strong US employment data, which grew firmly for a second straight month in March and the jobless rate hit a two-year low of 8.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, reports quoted former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani as saying that he expected prices of crude oil to reach $200 or $300 a barrel if the Middle East political unrest spreads to Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter.

While there are no immediate signs of further in the kingdom after last month's protests calling for political reforms, he said, there still existed some underlying discontent.