By Bruce Stanley
The Associated Press

LONDON - The price of oil is likely to remain high in coming months and could rise further, analysts say, because of ravenous global demand and petroleum producers' reluctance to boost supplies.

Recent security problems in Saudi Arabia and Iraq have also inflamed markets.

On Tuesday, prices for oil and gasoline futures surged.

Crude for June delivery rose 77 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $38.98 per barrel, a 13-year high. Meanwhile, unleaded gasoline for June delivery gained 4.4 cents to $1.31 per gallon, the highest settlement since the contract started trading in December 1984.

June heating oil climbed 2.02 cents to settle at 98.81 cents per gallon. Natural gas futures climbed 3.8 cents to settle at $6.269 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Increases in oil and gasoline futures typically cause pump prices to rise. Refineries are running flat out ahead of the peak summer driving season, but costlier crude makes it more expensive for them to produce gasoline.

The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States is $1.84 per gallon, according to the Energy Department, and analysts say the cost could rise as high as $3 per gallon in some regional markets.

On Tuesday, contracts of North Sea Brent crude for June delivery soared by $1.30 to $35.78 per barrel in late trading on London's International Petroleum Exchange.

Markets rose after the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the world's No. 1 oil exporter, advised Americans to leave the country following the weekend killings of five foreign workers at a petrochemical plant there.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps one-third of the world's oil, has reaped a windfall from higher crude prices.

OPEC insists that it aims for an average target price of $25 per barrel for its benchmark blend of crudes, but the actual benchmark stood 37 percent higher than that at $34.13 on Monday, the most recent day for which OPEC compiled data.

OPEC blames the high prices largely on speculators and political tensions in the Middle East.

The Center for Global Energy Studies in London believes that OPEC leader Saudi Arabia now needs a benchmark price of at least $30 per barrel to balance its government budget.

To firm up prices, the group has kept supplies tight, most recently by approving a 4 percent cut in its output target starting last month.