Oil flat despite Qatar minister's comments

Crude oil was little changed in New York after Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said Opec was unable to temper near-record prices.

Opec, which pumps more than 40 per cent of the world's oil, will meet on February 1 in Vienna for the first time since oil prices hit $100 a barrel.

US President George W Bush yesterday warned Arab allies of the dangers posed by neighboring Iran, Opec's second-biggest oil producer and exporter.

"Opec believes that even though crude-oil supply is tight, there's no need for them to release extra barrels," said Robert Laughlin, a senior broker at MF Global in London. "Geopolitical concerns are being stoked by President Bush's hardline talk against Iran and increasing violence in Nigeria."

Crude oil for February traded at $92.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:49 am London time after earlier gaining 56 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $93.25. Prices are down 7 per cent from the record $100.09 reached on January 3.

Brent crude for February settlement gained 75 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $91.82 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. It traded at $91.29 a barrel at 10:49 am London time.

"Opec is only a group of oil producers. It does not fix prices and can't control the market forces," al-Attiyah said on Monday. "They can't control the geopolitics. They can't control the speculation."

Oil dropped 5.3 per cent last week as US stocks posted their longest losing streak since August. Goldman Sachs Group said the US and Japan are at risk of recession.

Militant assaults have halted as much as 20 percent of Nigeria's oil production since early 2006. A January 1 attack by MEND on two police stations and a hotel in Port Harcourt helped push oil prices over $100 for the first time.

Hedge fund managers and other large speculators have raised their bets on rising oil prices during the past three weeks, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

The net-long position in New York oil futures, the difference between contracts to buy and sell the commodity, rose 9 per cent to 94,923 contracts in the week ended January 8, the commission said last week.