LONDON, April 15: Oil prices edged up on Tuesday as expectations of a resumption of Iraqi crude exports were cancelled out by the prospect of an output cut by Opec.

In London, reference Brent North Sea crude for May delivery rose eight cents to $25.07 a barrel.

New York’s benchmark light sweet crude contract for May rose 12 cents to $28.75 a barrel during early trading.

Prices on both markets had been held down by dealers’ expectations of a swift return of Iraqi crude to world markets following the fall of Tikrit.

“Sentiment is still softer from a fundamental point of view, there is plenty of oil certainly being produced in the Gulf and there is a spare amount of oil actually waiting to be shipped from Iraq,” said GNI trader Robert Laughlin.

However also having an effect was the increasing likelihood that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), meeting on April 24 in Vienna, would consider tightening the taps to ward off a price plunge.—AFP