- MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Oil
prices raced to a new all-time peak on Monday, climbing toward $58 a barrel
as OPEC signaled it would discuss a second output rise to try to quell
the market's relentless rally.
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- U.S. light crude hit a record $57.79 a barrel, surpassing
Friday's high of $57.70, which was triggered by a forecast that prices
could spike above $100 due to robust global demand and tight spare capacity.
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- At 10:01 p.m. EDT Sunday, U.S. crude was up 19 cents
at $57.46.
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- "I would have thought prices would struggle to go
much higher. The market fundamentals suggest lower prices," said Mark
Pervan, an analyst with Daiwa Securities in Melbourne.
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- "I think they will struggle to get over $60 in the
next couple of weeks -- that is a big psychological barrier."
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- OPEC President Sheikh Amhad al-Fahd al-Sabah said on
Saturday he would likely start consulting member producers on Sunday over
a 500,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) increase to group supplies to cool the market.
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- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
lifted output limits by 500,000 bpd to 27.5 million bpd in mid-March and
left room for a second rise before a June ministerial meeting if prices
failed to ease below $55.
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- "We had suspended (consultations) for a period of
time because of the decline in prices," Sheikh Ahmad said.
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- "But now, the reality of prices requires that we
once again undertake communications for the purpose of consultations with
the fellow OPEC oil ministers ... pertaining to the 500,000-bpd hike."
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- Nigerian Presidential Adviser on Petroleum Edmund Daukoru
said on Sunday the increase could happen within two weeks if prices stayed
above $55 for at least the next 10 to 14 days.
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- U.S. oil prices have surged 33 percent this year, with
big-money speculative funds buying heavily on signs that rapid demand growth
in Asia's emerging economies and the United States would strain world supply.
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- Prices have gained more than $3 since Thursday when top
energy derivatives trader Goldman Sachs released a report saying oil markets
might have entered a "super-spike" period which could eventually
drive them toward $105.
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- Concerns about the adequacy of U.S. gasoline stocks ahead
of the peak summer demand season were also partly behind last week's price
jump after a handful of refiners had production problems.
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- U.S. gasoline futures struck a new all-time high on Monday
at $1.7380 a gallon, an increase of 0.007 cents.
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