Oil prices raced to all-time highs today, climbing above $58 a barrel, while OPEC producers said they had begun discussing a second output rise to try to calm the market.
US light crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a record of $58.28 a barrel. It later eased slightly to trade 43 cents higher on the day at $57.70. London's Brent crude was 69 cents higher at $57.20, also just down from a new peak of $57.65.
Prices have surged since a forecast last week by Goldman Sachs bank that oil could move above $100 as global demand growth strains supply capacity.
OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said oil ministers had begun telephone consultations on possibly increasing production by a further 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to cool prices.
'If there is a decision it should be in the next two weeks. For that, if there will be any new production, it should be in May,' said Sheikh Ahmad, also Kuwait's energy minister.
OPEC raised output limits by 500,000 bpd to 27.5 million bpd in mid-March and left room for a second rise before a June ministerial meeting if prices failed to ease below $55. The European Commission also said it had raised its 2005 price forecast to $50.9 a barrel for Brent, up from an earlier forecast of $45.1.
In real terms, prices were still higher in the 1980s when they peaked at roughly $90 a barrel in today's money for US crude, according to calculations by the International Energy Agency.
