World oil prices rose yesterday, brushing off Sunday's OPEC agreement to lift output by 3 per cent, but later fell back as Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said OPEC wanted prices at $25 (€29) a barrel.
Brent blend crude, the world benchmark, increased to $34.25 in mid-afternoon, within sight of last week's 10-year high of $34.60, but was later soothed back to $33.61 by Mr Naimi's comments to reporters after the OPEC meeting in Vienna.
US crude oil futures earlier hit a fresh 10-year high of $35.54 before retracing to last stand at $34.80. "We are not happy," Mr Naimi said. "We said before we intend to bring the price down and we will bring it down."
Dealers said earlier the firmer prices reflected profit-taking as traders bought back short positions taken out in the lead-up to OPEC's meeting. But they also said low stocks of heating oil in the US were giving the market the jitters.
The OPEC deal drew only lukewarm praise from Western consuming governments faced with angry motorists and oil dealers warned that cold winter weather and depleted storage tanks in the US might conspire to keep prices near to current levels.
