LONDON (Reuters):
OIL SLIPPED under US$71 yesterday as investors balanced higher supplies from Iraq against demand in China and the United States that remains robust despite costly fuel.
Iraq's oil minister sketched a positive production outlook on Sunday, saying output had recovered to 2.5 million barrels a day - the highest since the fall of Saddam Hussein - and would rival top exporter Saudi Arabia within a decade.
At the same time, Baghdad offered a batch of crude from its troubled north - the second sale this month after nearly a year's halt due to sabotage on the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.
But analysts said Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani's bold targets should be treated with caution.
Prices have climbed 16 per cent in 2006 as pension and hedge funds pile money into oil and investors fret over supply disruptions, whether real or anticipated.
