NEW YORK — The world price of a barrel of crude oil prices hit an all-time record this morning, reaching $119.93 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Associated Press reported.

The surge was blamed on a weekend refinery strike in Scotland that closed a key refinery as well as continuing political unrest in Nigeria. The consumer market in Great Britain will have to look elsewhere for fuel, pushing prices higher on the global market.

Average diesel in the use is well over $4.00 a gallon, while in Canada, the average prices last week settled at $1.33 a liter. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland experienced the highest pump prices, between $1.42 and $1.53.

Those rates are expected to climb this week in light of the recent news.

Also, analysts are predicting the U.S. dollar will further slip this week. Investors traditionally buy more oil futures as a hedge against declining U.S. currency.