By Richard Valdmanis
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil prices scaled a new peak near $130 a barrel on Tuesday amid deepening worries over tight global stockpiles and signals from OPEC that no additional supplies are forthcoming to ease the crunch.
Billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday he expects oil to hit $150 a barrel this year. The prediction came on the same day two investment banks raised their 2008 crude price forecasts and two weeks after Goldman Sachs said a barrel could fetch $200 by 2010.
"There's a feeling that some of these forecasts of $150 oil might be right, so why not buy it now rather than later?" said Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover.
U.S. crude oil futures gained $1.85 to $128.90 a barrel by 1:32 p.m. EDT after hitting a high of $129.60 a barrel during the session. London Brent crude rose $2.34 to $127.40 a barrel.
Oil prices have risen sixfold since 2002 amid surging demand in China and other developing economies.
OPEC members have repeatedly rebuffed calls for more supplies from consumer nations hard hit by the inflation in fuel costs, saying the rally is due to rampant speculation and not to any supply shortage.
OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said last week it would boost output by 300,000 barrels per day to make up for production outages in other OPEC nations, but added that a real boost to overall supply from the cartel is not needed.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC for limiting oil supplies, but the White House has threatened to veto the measure.
Energy analysts say an OPEC decision to raise output would help ease the rally which has been fueled by resilient world energy demand even as the United States slows.
"Slackening U.S. demand is being offset by brisk offtake in Asian countries, and to a lesser extent in Europe, where the stronger euro is cushioning the price increases," said Edward Meir at MF Global.
Tight supplies have come under increasing strain following last week's earthquake in China, the world's second biggest oil consumer behind the United States, which disrupted natural gas supplies and increased demand for diesel to be used in electric generators.
Investment banks Societe Generale and Credit Suisse raised their oil price forecasts for 2008 Tuesday by $14 to $115 a barrel and by $29 to $120 a barrel, respectively.
Last week, Goldman Sachs predicted oil prices would average $141 in the second half of this year.
A weekly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to be released Wednesday is expected to show increases in crude and refined products supplies, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.
(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis; editing by Jim Marshall)
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