WASHINGTON — Oil prices settled yesterday at a new high, above $71 a barrel, as supply threats around the world overshadowed a new forecast from OPEC of weakening global demand.

There was no fresh catalyst for yesterday's buying, but analysts said the market psychology will likely remain bullish until there is some resolution to a variety of geopolitical uncertainties, particularly the West's nuclear dispute with Iran and output disruptions in Nigeria.

Global Insight oil analyst Kevin Lindemer said the slowing consumption growth and swelling inventories of crude oil in the United States would typically help pull down prices, but "all of that is getting swamped right now by Iran and Nigeria."

Light sweet crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as high as $71.60 a barrel, surpassing the previous intraday record of $70.85 set Aug. 30. Oil settled at $71.35, up 95 cents from Monday's record closing price.

With gasoline prices averaging $2.79 a gallon, U.S. motorists are shelling out $212 million per day more than a year ago, and President Bush said yesterday he is "concerned" about the impact this is having on American households and small businesses.

"We will feel real pain at the pump before this market tops out," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading in Tampa, Fla. Cordier predicted gasoline prices could rise as high as $3.50 a gallon in some parts of the country this summer.

In its latest monthly report, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries yesterday revised its demand-growth forecast for 2006 to 1.42 million barrels a day, down from 1.46 million in the previous report. The cartel estimates that global crude-oil demand will be slightly above 84.5 million barrels per day — about half a million barrels per day lower than the current Wall Street consensus.

OPEC expressed particular concern about the impact rising interest rates would have on consumer spending in the U.S., where gasoline demand grew at a slower rate in the first quarter and could "carry over into the second half of the year."

But with global crude oil production only barely keeping up with demand, leaving a slim margin for error if there is a prolonged supply interruption, experts say prices are likely to climb further.

Traders are anxious that U.S.-led efforts to stop Iran, OPEC's second-largest member, from pursuing a suspected nuclear weapons program could lead to a disruption in Persian Gulf supplies. Yesterday, Russia maintained its opposition to sanctions against Iran, while Bush said he would continue to focus on diplomacy but that "all options are on the table" to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons.

In Nigeria, militant attacks have led Royal Dutch Shell PLC to shut down large amounts of production. Energy-information service Platts estimates Nigeria's output fell by 220,000 barrels a day in March, compared with February.

Also underpinning high oil prices is booming demand in emerging economies such as China and India.

"The market sentiment now is much more nervous," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo. "Things haven't changed so much, but as we approach the summer driving season we'll need more crude to make gasoline and we know also that U.S. gasoline production has its limitations because of the tight refining capacity."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., implored the Federal Trade Commission yesterday to "rigorously monitor" the U.S. refining industry to make sure companies are producing as much gasoline as they can and "not manipulating the amount of product flowing to the market."