Oil prices dipped below $30 today as Iraqi crude output slowly increased, but many traders stayed out of the market ahead of an OPEC meeting later this week.
US benchmark crude was down 21 cents at $29.96 per barrel.
Prices are down about 5 per cent from their highs in early July after hedge funds last week took profits from a rally that had pushed up crude nearly 25 per cent since early May, traders said.
Traders were playing it safe ahead of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna on Thursday, although the producer cartel that controls half of the world's oil exports was not expected to change output levels.
OPEC is likely to maintain its current ceiling of 25.4 million barrels per day (bpd) because prices have held in its $22-$28 target range, an OPEC oil minister said on Sunday.
On Thursday the price of OPEC's basket of crudes was $27.33 per barrel.
Traders said OPEC was counting on a return of oil exports from Iraq to keep prices capped. Iraq's oil production has risen to just over one million bpd from steady levels of 800,000 bpd, an oil ministry official said yesterday.