Oil prices held just over $1 below record highs on profit-taking today, reviving concerns of the impact of soaring energy costs on the economies of consumer countries.
US light crude traded flat at $56.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting an all-time peak of $57.60 yesterday.
Mr Rodrigo Rato, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said oil prices posed a risk, but world economic growth still was expected to beat 4 per cent this year.
A poll of 25 analysts, consultants and government bodies forecast the mean price for US crude at $44.90 a barrel this year, up from the 2004 average of $41.47. The 2005 average to date is $49.16.
Global oil prices remained red-hot despite OPEC's decision to raise output immediately by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), compelling the producers' cartel to consider a second supply increase.
"If prices continue as they are now during the coming 7 to 10 days, we will begin our contacts with our colleagues so we can consult on the additional 500,000," OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Sabah said.
But with output already near a 25-year high, Opec is stretched to meet rising demand. "The market is still searching for where the top might be. I believe the market will try for $59 a barrel. Traditionally, between now and May, there is a pre-season gasoline peak before the (US) driving season starts," said Tony Nunan at Mitsubishi in Tokyo.
Robust demand growth from China is fuelling strength in other emerging Asian economies, while the United States, for now, is absorbing higher fuel costs.
Global oil consumption is projected to rise to 86.1 million bpd during the fourth-quarter demand peak, up from 83.7 million bpd over the first nine months of 2005, says the Paris-based International Energy Agency.