Lagos — The unrest in the Nigeria's oil-affluent Niger Delta region on Tuesday forced the world to pay higher for a barrel of oil as the commodity price skyrocketed above $73 per barrels before the end of the day's transaction.

The last time oil sold at this price in the global market was October, 2008. Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, featured prominently as the cause for the eight-month high price surge, which analysts said the country's economy did not benefit from.

The country's militants on Monday partly damaged and shut down a Royal Dutch Shell offshore oil platform, an action which swiftly shot oil price above $73 per barrel

The Schork Report edited by United States (U.S.) trader and analyst Stephen Schork downplayed the events in Nigeria and their effect on the market, pointing out that Nigeria's share of the U.S. import market had dropped from 11 percent to 6 percent in the past year.

"For all intents and purposes," he said, "the ... turmoil in Nigeria hurts that country more so than the United States."

By midday in Europe, benchmark crude for August delivery was up 23 cents to $71.72 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $73.38 earlier in the session. On Monday, it gained $2.33 to settle at $71.49.

A weakening United States (U.S.) dollar, unit of exchange for oil transaction was also blamed for the surge.

Schork added that the gains by crude might have been linked to "the desire of fund managers to get some energy exposure into their portfolios ahead of the close of business (Tuesday)."

Other analysts also said prices were boosted by speculative trades and portfolio positioning by investment funds, which typically intensify at the end of a fiscal quarter.

"There is still a lot of oil out there ... and demand for it is still very questionable," Schork said.

U.S. energy consultancy Cameron Hanover mirrored Schork's view on the lack of influence of supply and demand on the market, saying that fundamentals had been "relegated to cocktail conversation in the actual movement of oil prices."

Oil has surged from below $35 in March in part on investor concern that massive U.S. fiscal stimulus spending will eventually spark high inflation. Investors often buy commodities such as crude as a hedge against a weakening dollar and inflation.

The euro gained to $1.4140 on Tuesday from $1.4078 on Monday.

Crude trading volume was about three times more than normal Tuesday in Asia, said Clarence Chu, a trader at market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.

China boosted state-set gasoline and diesel prices Tuesday to reflect rising global crude costs, days after indicating plans to increase its strategic crude oil reserves by 60 percent over the next five years.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for July delivery rose 2.92 cents to $1.9650 a gallon and heating oil gained 1.25 cents to $1.7960. Natural gas for July delivery advanced 3.0 cents to $3.974 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices weer up 15 cents to $71.14 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Earlier in the session, Brent peaked at $73.50.