Oil prices up a touch Thursday

NEW YORK, June 26 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices shot into new territory Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange after OPEC warned prices could jump $40 per barrel by the end of summer.

Crude oil prices hit a record $140.39, then settled slightly to $139.88 per barrel.

President of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Chakib Khelil said oil prices could reach between $150 and $170 before summer's end, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Libya's top oil official said the national oil company may reduce production, claiming the oil supplies were adequate, the Journal reported.

"Shokri Ghanem ... declined to say when a decision would be made" on when or how much production would be cut, Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy said in a research note, the Journal reported.

The price of heating oil also rose Thursday, up 0.012 cents in late trading to $3.8954 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 0.0042 cents to $3.5155 per gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.373 cents to $13.13 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline was unchanged Thursday, remaining at $4.067 after five consecutive days of slight declines, AAA said.