Oil prices may hit $100 a barrel

Oil prices could reach $100 per barrel if there were "dramatic" developments in the Gulf or elsewhere, a leading oil official has said.

An increase in tension between Iran and the West over the formers nuclear activities, security developments in Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member Nigeria and weather changes could push the price to $100, Nawal Al Fuzaie said.

Kuwait's oil minister last week said that OPEC would pump more oil if the price went above $100 and stayed there.

Any such change in the factors that could push the price to $100 would be temporary, Al Fuzaie was quoted by
Kuwait's state news agency Kuna as saying. Growth in the US, European, Chinese and Indian economies is increasing demand for crude and products and pushing up the price.

Kuwait is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, and crude exports are the mainstay of its economy.