Oil hit a record $72.64 a barrel Tuesday as Iran defied world pressure to halt its nuclear program, raising new fears of a cut in supplies from the world's fourth biggest crude exporter. In London, North Sea Brent crude oil jumped $1.18 to set its all-time high as Iran and the West exchanged increasingly sharp words over the Islamic Republic's determination to push ahead with uranium enrichment. U.S. crude oil climbed to $71.60, smashing through its previous record of $70.85. "This is a bull market and we have not found a top yet," said Tom Bentz, a senior analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. Prices fell back slightly in later trade, with Brent, an indicator of the cost of Europe's oil imports, ending up $1.03 to $72.49, while U.S. crude ended 90 cents up at $70.30. High U.S. oil stocks have helped to push U.S. crude below Brent. "The current shoot up we are experiencing is as a result of the Iran problems and it's not helped by the flare up between Israel and the Palestinians," OPEC President Edmund Daukoru said Tuesday. "But mainly it's the threatening statements being made against Iran as a result of its nuclear program," added Daukoru, who is also Nigeria's oil minister. Nigerian output is also a major concern. Oil prices have soared from $20 at the start of 2002 and are nearing the inflation-adjusted peaks of over $80 hit in 1980, the year after the Iranian revolution. Initially fired by strong demand from the United States and the fast-growing economies of China and India, the rise has accelerated over the past year on worries over supplies. Iraq's once significant oil industry is in crisis, Nigerian exports have been slashed by rebel attacks on the world's eighth biggest exporter and consumers are worried that Iran's exports could fall victim to its nuclear dispute with the West. The rally has also been aided by big investment funds putting their money into commodities in the hope of higher returns than they get from equities or bonds.