LONDON, May 13: Oil prices slipped back on Monday in the absence of a harsh military response by Israel for last week’s suicide bomb in Tel Aviv that many in the market had been expecting.

Brent North Sea crude for June delivery fell 20 cents to $26.18 a barrel in late trading.

In New York, the light sweet crude June contract eased 28 cents to $27.71 in early trading.

“It’s a readjustment in value based on the lack of tension, or lack of retaliation by the Israelis,” said Tony Macachek, oil broker with Prudential Bache.

Macachek noted the market had risen late last week on expectations that Israel would respond to the attack in Tel Aviv by launching a fresh wave of incursions into Palestinian-controlled territories.

He said comments from a meeting at Sharm El-Shiekh, Egypt, where Arab ministers had renewed a pledge over the weekend not to use oil as a weapon to exert pressure on behalf of the Palestinians, was adding to the market’s negative tone.

Against this backdrop, comments from Arab energy ministers in Cairo that a consensus was building inside the Opec to maintain output cuts in the third quarter unless something “dramatic” happened failed to staunch the losses.

“For the time being, it seems there is no need” for the 11-member Opec to increase output at their June 26 gathering in Vienna, United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Obeid bin Seif al-Nasseri told AFP at the gathering.

“But if there is a dramatic change in terms of stock level or in terms of prices ... if there is a shortage in the market, I think OPEC will do what is necessary,” he said.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is under pressure by consumer countries to increase output amid concern that high oil prices could hinder the recovery of the global economy.—AFP