Crude Oil Hits $55 a Barrel
Updated from 1:39 p.m. EST
Crude oil prices closed higher Tuesday, drawing nearer their record high of more than $55 a barrel, as traders mulled over comments from OPEC members.
The April futures contract was up 70 cents in Nymex floor trading to $54.59 a barrel, versus its October closing high of $55.17. The benchmark U.S. crude briefly traded as high as $55.15.
With the benchmark U.S. crude back near a record high, OPEC meets in Iran on March 16 to discuss supply and demand but cartel members have already been stating their positions about production levels.
Nigeria Monday urged other producers to take steps to lower prices, while Iran's oil minister ruled out any change in output, according to media reports.
OPEC's president on Sunday seemed to rule out any change in output, saying the market was "well supplied." He added, however, that the cartel was monitoring the market closely.
OPEC cut production by a million barrels a day, effective Jan. 1, having boosted production three times by a total of 2.5 million barrels a day in the second half of last year as prices marched irrevocably higher.
Prices have risen more than 10% in the past two weeks, breaking $50 a barrel for the first time since last October, when prices routinely hit record highs.
Concerns about OPEC's plans for production have supported prices along with unseasonably cold weather in parts of the U.S., which has stoked greater-than-usual demand for heating oil.