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Singapore (ANTARA News) - World oil prices continued lower in Asian trade on Friday after the U.S. dollar strengthened to its highest level since late March.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, slipped 57 cents to $111.95 per barrel.

The benchmark contract dropped 94 cents to close at $112.52 per barrel on Thursday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices have eased since striking a record high of $119.93 in New York last Monday during a Scottish refinery strike and related pipeline closure.

Brent North Sea crude for June delivery fell 35 cents to $110.15 a barrel, after settling at $110.50 on Thursday in London. The contract hit an all-time peak of $117.56 on April 25.

Victor Shum, senior principal at energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore, said oil has pulled back primarily because of the dollar's rise and supply-side issues have been resolved.

The dollar will continue to steer movement in oil prices, said Shum.

"In the near term, there is still a bit of support at the $110 level and some market participants might view this as a buying opportunity. It is a key support level," he told AFP.

The U.S. currency fell to a record low of $1.6019 to the euro on April 22 but has since recovered, changing hands at $1.5471 in Asian trade on Friday after shooting as high as $1.5437 on Thursday.

It was the greenback's strongest showing since March 25.

A stronger U.S. currency makes dollar-priced crude more expensive for foreign buyers and tends to dampen demand.

Analysts said the dollar strengthened following a better-than-expected reading on U.S. manufacturing activity and growing speculation that U.S. interest rates will stabilise.

Crude prices fell sharply on Wednesday in response to a bigger-than-expected rise in crude oil reserves in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, analysts said.

U.S. crude inventories rose 3.8 million barrels in the week ending April 25, far stronger than market expectations for a gain of 1.5 million barrels.

Supply concerns eased somewhat on Thursday after workers at ExxonMobil's Nigerian subsidiary ended an eight-day strike.

The strike and attacks on pipelines belonging to other companies in the southern Delta region badly hit production in Africa's biggest oil producer and helped push world crude prices towards $120 earlier this week.

Workers at the Scottish refinery returned to work on Tuesday after their strike.

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