* Iraq official says Iranian troops in Iraqi oilfield
* Cold U.S. weather reduces natural gas stocks, supports oil
* OPEC won't change output-OPEC president, Saudi minister
(Adds more on Iran-Iraq, quote, updates prices)
By Joe Brock
LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Oil rose towards $74 a barrel on
Friday after an Iraqi official said Iranian troops had crossed
into an oilfield in Iraq, and on the prospect of increased
winter demand.
Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji, reversing
statements made earlier in the day, said the Iranian soldiers
had crossed into Iraqi territory and taken up position at a
southern oilfield whose ownership is disputed by Iran.
[]
The minister said the incursion on Friday was the latest in
a series this week.
A cold snap gripping the U.S. Northeast, the world's top
heating oil market, also supported the market
U.S. crude for January delivery <CLc1> hit a high of $74.69
a barrel on the Iraq report but had pared gains to $73.80 a
barrel, up $1.15 by 1533 GMT.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> for February delivery, now the
front month contract, was up 72 cents at $74.09.
"The Iraq-Iran issue is bringing some nervousness in the
market but I think there is a very high possibility that there
is nothing in the story," said Eugen Weinberg, oil analyst at
Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"If there is some sort of conflict then the price reaction
is too small but if it is nothing the reaction is too high,"
Weinberg added.
U.S. natural gas inventories fell for just the second time
this winter season, down 207 billion cubic feet, according to
the U.S. Energy Information Administration. []
U.S. President Barack Obama joined other world leaders in
Copenhagen in a last push for a new global climate deal on
Friday, but with no agreement on the core issue of greenhouse
gas emissions they faced an enormous task.
"If there is no strong binding agreement the market might
take it as a signal that fossil fuel demand will remain as it
is, which helps prices," Weinberg said.
OPEC MEETING
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
will not change output targets when it meets in Angola on Dec.
22, the group's president said on Friday. []
"Oil prices are trading at $70 to $75 per barrel which is
the level our group has defended. I believe we will maintain the
decisions that were taken in the past about output quotas and
keep targets unchanged," Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos told
Angolan Radio Ecclesia. []
That view was echoed by the group's most influential oil
minister, Saudi Arabia's Ali al-Naimi, in comments published on
Friday.
"The (meeting) will not lead to any change in production,"
Saudi-owned al-Hayat quoted Naimi as saying.
"And the oil price of $75 to $80 is something we all want,"
Naimi told the newspaper in Copenhagen, where he was attending
the U.N. climate summit. []
U.S crude oil is expected to rise to an average of $76.40 a
barrel in 2010 and $82.70 in 2011, a Reuters poll showed on
Friday, as global economic recovery solidifies and the demand
for fuel begins to soak up available supply. []
(Editing by Anthony Barker)
