Opec says it is already pumping flat out (AP)

World oil prices broke fresh records on Monday, with US light crude poised to break through the $50 a barrel mark, and Brent crude topping $46 in London.

US light crude closed at a record price of $49.64 and in post-market electronic trading, struck $50 a barrel.

Brent crude hit a high of $46.28 before closing 57 cents up at $45.90 as instability in Nigeria's main oil producing region stoked supply worries.

Analysts said US prices would soon top $50 a barrel for the first time.

'Major problem'

Oil traders said fears that political unrest in Nigeria's oil producing region would cut output had added to pressure on prices.

Shell and Agip have both evacuated non-essential workers from the south Nigerian Delta in recent days where the government is fighting insurgents.

"The problems of Nigeria have obviously got worse," said Robert Laughlin, a trader at GNI-Man Financial.

"This is a major problem that we don't need because they produce sweet crude oil . There is not enough sweet crude oil."

Traders also cited recent clashes between Saudi Arabian police and suspected Islamic militants in the Saudi capital Riyadh for forcing prices up.

John Kilduff, senior vice president for energy at Fimat USA, said he believed prices would rise to at least $51 a barrel in the next few days.

"The hits just keep coming," he said. "The damage to production in the Gulf of Mexico will haunt the market for some time."

Adequate supply

The president of Opec said earlier that the producers' cartel would not review output quotas before December.

Opec president Purnomo Yusgiantoro questioned the significance of the latest price surge in Asia, saying "this is not the price of the Opec basket, it is the price of US crude".

"This is because of Hurricane Ivan and some problems in other places," said the Opec chief, who is also Indonesia's oil minister.

"We will wait until we meet in Cairo," he added, referring to Opec's next ministerial meeting in December.

"This is not a supply and demand problem. Opec supply is enough."

Hurricane Ivan temporarily crippled offshore oil production and coastal refinery operations in the Gulf of Mexico, reducing the region's daily output.

Since then, the Caribbean and southern US have suffered another major storm, Hurricane Jeanne.

(Agencies)

sweet crude oil : （低硫原油）

cartel: a consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition by controlling the production and distribution of a product or service（企業聯合）