LONDON, Jan 5: Oil prices rose back above $47 on Monday as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict raged on and major crude producer Iran said Opec would hold a special meeting next month.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February climbed 70 cents to $47.61 a barrel in afternoon trade on London’s InterContinental Exchange.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February, gained 70 cents to $47.04.

Crude futures have been boosted over the past week as the conflict in Gaza stokes tensions in the key oil-producing Middle East.

Elsewhere, Iran’s Opec representative Mohammad Ali Khatibi on Monday said that the oil producers’ cartel would hold an extraordinary meeting in Kuwait in February.—AFP