Oil eases, but remains above $53

Oil prices eased on Monday but stayed above $53 a barrel after several Opec countries said they saw no need for producers to increase output...

Oil prices eased on Monday but stayed above $53 a barrel after several Opec countries said they saw no need for producers to increase output despite prices hovering just below four-month highs.

US light crude slipped 44 cents to $53.34 a barrel, over $2 below last October’s record $55.67. The fall came as investors took profits after a price rally of nearly 18 per cent over the past month.

London Brent crude fell 38 cents to $51.42.

Algeria, Iran and Qatar lined up with Venezuela against boosting Opec production over the weekend. The group’s president on Sunday expressed concern over the high prices but said the market was well supplied.

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“Opec is concerned about this price development despite the fact that the market is well-supplied and global crude oil stocks have continued to build,” Opec President and Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said in a statement. “There is no need to supply more because the stocks are well,” Algeria’s Energy Minister Chakib Khelil told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry function on Monday in Milan, Italy.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) meets on March 16 in Iran to review production policy. Ministers are usually wary of pumping more crude going into the second quarter, as demand falls when the northern hemisphere winter draws to a close.

But the latest price rally to near-record levels prompted Nigeria to say on Friday that Opec may discuss next week an output increase or a relaxation of official production limits. Opec is already pumping above its limit of 27 million barrels per day (bpd) at about 27.63 million bpd in February, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.