Oil up in Asia as ME unrest spreads

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SINGAPORE, Feb 28 (AFP): Crude prices jumped in Asian trade Monday with New York futures again in sight of $100 a barrel after unrest in the oil-rich Middle East broadened, analysts said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April gained $1.28 to $113.42 per barrel while New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, rose $1.66 to $99.54 a barrel. The New York contract for West Texas Intermediate oil had hit $103.41 on Thursday, a level last seen in September 2008, and Brent came close to $120 before Saudi Arabia assured markets that it was ready to boost supplies. "The unrest in the Middle East and fears that the situation will worsen are still supporting oil prices despite news that Saudi Arabia will increase output," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore. Anti-government turmoil now convulsing Libya and much of the Middle East spread to Oman, another Gulf oil exporter, over the weekend with police shooting dead two demonstrators. Major crude producer Iran on Sunday urged OPEC, especially Saudi Arabia, to refrain from any unilateral hike in oil output, saying current crude production was enough to meet any shortages arising over the unrest in Libya. "There is no need for OPEC members to be hasty and take unilateral decisions" to raise output, Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said of Saudi Arabia, when asked to comment on Riyadh's offer to compensate for any shortage. Mirkazemi, the current president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said the oil cartel had so far not decided to hold any extraordinary session to discuss a raise in output. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer of oil, pumps around 8.4 million barrels of oil per day and Iran is the cartel's second largest exporter. Meanwhile, Iran Sunday urged OPEC, especially Saudi Arabia, to refrain from any unilateral hike in oil output, saying current crude production was enough to meet any shortages arising over the unrest in Libya. "There is no need for OPEC members to be hasty and take unilateral decisions" to raise output, Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said of Saudi Arabia, when asked to comment on Riyadh's offer to compensate for any shortage. Mirkazemi, the current president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said that OPEC had so far not decided to hold any extraordinary session to discuss a raise in output. Saudi Arabia, the cartel's largest producer, is pumping around 8.4 million barrels of oil per day, but Naimi said the kingdom still has a spare capacity of another four million bpd. Iran is OPEC's second largest oil exporter. World oil prices edged upward before the weekend close on worries that escalating unrest in the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa might choke supply.