The price of crude oil reached a record $75 US a barrel Friday, more than 40 per cent higher than a year ago. Analysts predict a further increase in the coming weeks, pointing to the threat of Iran's nuclear activities and instability in Nigeria.

Iran, OPEC's second top oil producer, continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions despite international pressure. The Security Council has given Iran an April 28 deadline to stop uranium enrichment, but Iran has so far refused to back down.

Nigeria, another major supplier, faces the threat of rebels disrupting its oil production. Over the last year, rebels have been responsible for a 20 per cent decrease in the country's daily exports of 2.5 million barrels of crude oil.

A Shell Petroleum Development Co. spokesperson in Nigeria told The Associated Press on Friday that security concerns have cut a fifth of its oil output.

"There seems to be a lot of concern that the combination of the geopolitical issues, as well as refining issues, are enough reason not to abandon the long side of this market just yet," Alaron Trading Corp. analyst Phil Flynn, referring to the U.S. inventory figures, told AP.

Tobin Gorey, commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, told AP that tensions with Iran added at least $15 per barrel to the oil price.

Consumers are feeling the sharp increase at the pumps. In the U.S., the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline is $2.855 U.S., 60 cents more than a year ago.

Meanwhile, U.S. traders are concerned that seven weeks of slumping domestic gasoline stocks will mean gasoline supplies won't match summer demand. The stocks are at their lowest level since November.

American refineries continue to feel the damage from a brutal hurricane season, operating at lower levels than normal. They have also had to switch to the gasoline additive ethanol, after MTBE was discovered to be a groundwater pollutant.

Meanwhile, the price of crude oil isn't the only commodity to reach a record high. Metals have also hit record levels.

"I'm inclined to think it's not reached a peak yet," Gorey told AP. "We're still faced with a tight supply-demand equation against the backdrop of strong economic growth, and there's still more money to come into the market."

However, Flynn warned that the market, though bullish, could "pullback at some point," AP reports.

He said that the more prices increase for commodities like crude oil, the bigger that pullback will be.

With files from The Associated Press