Iran, which holds the rotating presidency of OPEC, sees no need for the producer group to hold an emergency meeting if crude prices rise to $100 a barrel, echoing a view that Kuwait’s oil minister expressed last week.

“The increase in oil prices toward $100 is not worrisome enough to warrant a call for an emergency meeting,” Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi told a news conference in Tehran. “None of the OPEC members considers this figure as being unreasonable.”

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries accounts for 40 percent of global oil supply, and Iran is the group’s second-biggest producer after Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude for February settlement rose 62 cents, or 0.6 percent, to expire on Jan. 14 at $98.68 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Earlier, it touched $99.20, the highest intraday price since Oct. 1, 2008, the last date the North Sea benchmark grade traded above $100 a barrel. Costlier oil is fanning concern that the global economic recovery may suffer if prices continue to rise. Read the rest of this entry »