Concerns over the surging cost of Brent crude are growing as analysts warn that Europe could be at the center of an oil-price shock.

Rising oil prices have leapt ahead of the long-running euro-zone debt crisis as the most pressing problem facing the global economy, according to some analysts. HSBC labeled oil's remorseless climb "the new Greece," in a nod that worries over global contagion from Europe have receded for now.