CRUDE oil was little changed after reaching a record near US$121 a barrel amid supply risks in Nigeria and Iran and signs of stronger United States demand.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said that a rebel attack over the weekend damaged a flow-station in Nigeria, where violence has curbed exports from Africa's biggest oil producer. Supply shortfalls will probably send oil to between US$150 and US$200 a barrel within two years, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said in a report.

"It's a little bit of Nigeria, a little bit of Iran, and a little bit of the impact from the Goldman Sachs outlook," Gerrit Zambo, an oil trader at BayernLB in Munich, told Bloomberg News. "People are seeing better numbers on the US economic picture."

Crude oil for June delivery rose as much as 96 cents to US$120.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday price since trading began in 1983. The contract traded at US$119.67 a barrel in London at 1:38pm local time. On Monday, futures rallied 3.1 percent, reaching an all-time high closing price of US$119.97. Oil prices may rise to between US$150 and US$200 a barrel within two years because of a lack of adequate supply growth, Goldman Sachs analysts led by Arjun N. Murti said in a report on Monday.

Brent crude oil for June settlement also rose to a record, gaining as much as US$1.08, or 0.9 percent, to US$119.07 and trading at US$118.09 at 1:39pm London time. On Monday, Brent rose to a record close of US$117.99 on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Iran, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said it would reject any incentives from Western governments that would block its pursuit of nuclear technology, Reuters news agency reported on Monday.

A May 2 attack on the Diebu Creek flow station in Nigeria's Bayelsa state halted some oil output, Shell said.