Vitol warns crude could pass $150 The world's largest independent energy trader has warned that oil prices could surge this year to a record high due to growing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Ian Taylor, chief executive of Vitol, said on Tuesday as he released results for the commodities trading house that his main scenario envisaged oil prices remaining at "around current levels for the balance of 2012," but he warned: "Geopolitical risk, especially in the Middle East, creates potential material risk to the upside." In a separate interview with the Financial Times, Mr Taylor said that oil prices could even surpass the record high of nearly $150 a barrel set in mid-2008. "It is unlikely, but it is possible," he said when asked whether prices would surge to a fresh record. Even if oil prices remain just at current levels, as Vitol is predicting, it would mean that 2012 would set a record annual average. Brent crude oil averaged $109 a barrel last year, setting an all-time high above the previous average record of $98.4 a barrel in 2008. The comments came as the Switzerland-based trading house reported record revenues and volumes in 2011. Vitol, which is privately owned, does not disclose profitability. The cost of Brent, the global crude oil benchmark, touched an eight-month high of $121.15 a barrel on Monday as supply outages in South Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya, and the fear of a significant disruption in Iran, outweighed a slowdown in demand growth. "The supply side of the market is a mess," Mr Taylor said. Demand, even if not great, continues to grow. So its difficult to see much price downside from current levels. Moreover, oil inventories remain at historically low levels, particularly in Europe, due to the impact of the civil war in Libya on oil supplies. The International Energy Agency earlier this month said that crude oil inventories in Europe fell in December to a 15-year low. In early trading on Tuesday, Brent was down 9 cents to $119.94 a barrel. The forecast by Vitol comes as oil executives, traders and policymakers gather for International Petroleum Week, the annual meeting of the industry this week in London. Vitol ranks as the world's largest independent crude oil trader, ahead of Switzerland-based rivals Glencore, Trafigura, Mercuria and Gunvor. The company also competes with the powerful in-house trading arms of BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total of France. The Geneva-based trading house, which is owned by 360 of its employees, said that revenues rose last year to a record $297bn, up 52 per cent from 2010, on the back of rising volumes and prices. Commodities trading houses achieve tiny margins and industry executives believe that the difficult trading conditions of last year mean that Vitol earned between $1.5bn and $2.0bn in the year, below its record high of $2.3bn set in 2006. Vitol said that its total trading volumes reached 457m tonnes, up roughly 14.5 per cent from 399m tonnes in 2010, as the trading house boosted some of its non-oil businesses, including emissions and coal. Vitol traded 135m tonnes of crude oil, equal to roughly 2.8m barrels a day, little changed from 134m tonnes in 2010.