A top OPEC official has told the EU the oil cartel is ready to maintain a pledge at its next meeting to keep oil prices within a set range, the EU energy commissioner has said. Ms Loyola de Palacio said she had discussed recent oil price volatility at the weekend with OPEC Secretary-General Mr Ali Rodriguez.

"From his standpoint, it is not a problem of a lack of oil in the markets but is due to another kind of reason which we all know about," Ms de Palacio said during an EU energy officials' meeting in Pamplona, northern Spain. She was apparently referring to tensions in the Middle East which have driven up oil prices recently, sparking fears among economists of a spike in energy costs that could jeopardise an economic recovery in industrialised countries.

US oil prices surged past $27 a barrel again on Friday. Ms De Palacio said Mr Rodriguez had told her OPEC would "analyse this in the next OPEC ministerial meeting and that they were ready to maintain commitments that price should not shoot up but would be kept within the agreed bands".

OPEC has a target range of $22-$28 per barrel based on a basket of crudes. The group will review production policy at its next meeting in Vienna on June 26th. OPEC has cut production rates by about 20 per cent in the past 18 months.

Spanish Economy Minister Rodrigo Rato said the view of all participants in the G7 and IMF meetings in Washington this month was that the $23-$26 per barrel range seen in recent months was "perfectly compatible with economic recovery".