LONDON, Feb 25: Oil prices rose on Monday, with New York close to $99 a barrel, as Turkey’s offensive in Iraq and fears of a forthcoming Opec output cut sparked fresh supply worries, dealers said.

Opec President Chakib Khelil indicated that the powerful 13-nation cartel would not increase production at a ministerial output meeting next week.

On Monday, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gained four cents to $98.85 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for April delivery added 32 cents to $97.80.

“Several factors are impacting the price gains at the moment, not least the Turkish incursion into northern Iraq and the fact they look like extending that operation,” said Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris.

“Investors and speculators are also looking at the commodity suite as a whole, and there’s a belief there’s more upside potential in the market.”

Turkish fighter jets pounded Kurdish rebel positions for the fifth day running on Monday, security sources told AFP.

But Iraqi exports of 300,000 barrels of oil per day through Turkey have not been affected, the Iraqi oil ministry said Saturday.

Iraq’s northern oil fields are connected to the Turkish port of Ceyhan by a pipeline that crosses the two countries’ border in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.

Most of Iraq’s oil, a further 1.6 million barrels per day, is exported through the southern port of Basra.—AFP