Price fear keeps Opec oil flowing

The worry is that oil prices keep rising, putting the brakes on growth

Oil group Opec will keep pumping oil at near-record levels in an effort to keep prices from spiking much higher.

Speaking ahead of Opec's meeting in Vienna on Tuesday, members said they would leave output levels untouched.

Crude costs have been buoyed by concerns about the diplomatic row with Iran and the threat of Nigerian unrest.

Demand for oil also is outstripping supply and that is likely to continue until new investment in extraction and refining filters through this year.

Opec members include Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Nigeria and the cartel provide more than a third of the world's oil.

The worry that Opec may have trimmed its output, coupled with the other factors, had pushed up the price of crude oil on the international market on Monday.

New York light crude oil rose 0.9% to $68.35 in the US. London's main contract, Brent crude, added 0.5% to $66.59.

Slippery problems

Opec's output has been more than 28 million barrels a day, and often getting close to 30 million a day, but that has done little to ease prices. Any relief has been short and complicated by instability in world politics.

The oil group and analysts expect demand for crude to diminish after the peak winter period and cold weather that has put extra pressure on supplies.

Until then, however, "prices are a little uncomfortable", said Opec president and Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru.

Venezuela's Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said: "Our position is that maybe the best is to wait until March, early in March, in order to cut, something like one million barrels per day."

In Nigeria, militants have pledged a violent campaign against the nation's oil industry, while uncertainty about the future of Iranian oil production also is hanging over the market.

US and European officials are meeting in London on Monday in an effort to persuade Russia and China to back tough action against Iran if the country continues with its controversial nuclear programme.