TEHRAN, Feb 17: Iran's oil minister on Saturday predicted Opec would not need to make a further cut in crude oil production at the cartel's next meeting in March, as long as the price of crude remains stable.

“If the oil price remains at current levels, there will probably be no need for a cut at the meeting in March, Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh was quoted by the ISNA agency as saying on the sidelines of an oil conference.

“At the moment prices are going up, so the Opec price basket is above $50 ars a barrel, he commented.

“But if the upward trend of prices were to change, some other options would definitely be examined,” said Vaziri Hamaneh, whose country is Opec's second largest producer.

His remarks are broadly in line with comments by the oil minister of Opec's number one producer Saudi Arabia, who said the cartel might not need to change its oil output quotas at the March 15 Vienna meeting if market conditions continue.

If you are asking me are we going to take additional cuts or increase supply, I do not know, Ali al-Nuaimi told the Wall Street Journal.

But, most probably if the trend is like what it is like today, with the market getting in much, much better health and balance, there may not be any reason to change.”At its last meeting in December, Opec decided to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from February 1, following a reduction of 1.2 million bpd in November.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, on Friday gained 1.40 dollars to $59.39 a barrel.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery climbed 1.35 dollar to $58.95 a barrel.

NEW YORK: World oil prices rose on Friday on fears of renewed unrest in Nigeria, as traders positioned for a long weekend in the United States, analysts said.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, gained $1.40 to 59.39 dollars a barrel.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery climbed $1.35 to $58.95 a barrel.

The US consulate (in Nigeria) has said one of the militant groups in Nigeria is planning to expand their attacks, Sucden analyst Michael Davies said in London.

Nigeria is the world's sixth biggest exporter of crude oil, and the biggest in Africa. Oil facilities in the Niger Delta are regularly subject to attacks by militant separatists.

Despite Friday's rise, oil prices were down on the week and will remain under pressure as winter draws to an end, while stock levels remain comfortable as we head into the traditionally lower-demand second quarter,Davies added.

Fimat analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said: The rise is purely technical before the long weekend. United States markets are closed Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.

The news about Nigeria also helped but the market is going to need something more substantial than this report to make it go higher, he said.

World oil prices had finished mixed on Thursday, with Brent crude falling briefly below $57 a barrel as traders focussed on the buoyant state of US energy stockpiles.

It has been a volatile week for oil prices, beginning with a slump of more than two dollars on Monday in response to Saudi Arabian comments that appeared to pour cold water on further output cuts by the Opec cartel.

During the week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it was maintaining its estimate for the growth of oil demand in 2007 at 1.5 per cent, in line with its previous monthly report.

On Tuesday, prices staged a strong rebound after the International Energy Agency raised its own estimate for world oil demand this year, closing up more than a dollar in New York.

Then on Wednesday they tumbled again following a smaller-than-expected decline in stockpiles of US distillates.

Reserves of distillates, including heating fuel, fell by three million barrels to 133.3 million in the week ending February 9, according to the Department of Energy (DoE).

Analysts had expected a larger drop of four million barrels amid freezing weather in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer.--AFP