Oil prices eased today as OPEC weighed raising supply again in a bid to meet robust world demand and stem this year's rally.
US crude traded down 15 cents to $57.31 a barrel, compared to the peak of $57.60 struck last Thursday.
London's Brent crude eased eight cents to $55.57 a barrel. Oil prices are up 32 per cent since the end of 2004 on worries that strong demand growth, especially in emerging Asian economies and the United States, will strain global production, which is almost at its limits.
Former Saudi Arabian Oil minister Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani said that prices were unlikely to come down far soon. "I don't see a sharp drop. Only, God forbid it, if there is a crash in the US economy. . . . Hopefully that won't happen," he said.
The Opec producers' cartel, which makes up more than half of the world's oil exports, is considering raising supplies by another 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), less than a week after it agreed an increase of the same volume with immediate effect.
A second output boost would bring the group's official production ceiling to 28 million bpd, one-third of global demand projected for this year at 84 million bpd.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday Opec could decide any time to add the extra barrels.