World oil prices fell today ahead of US growth and crude inventories data and on the eve of an OPEC meeting, following sharp losses the day before.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July slid 82 cents to USD 101.61 a barrel in London afternoon deals.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for July lost 63 cents to USD 92.50 a barrel.
"Crude oil prices remained under pressure with Brent oil trading back to the USD 101 per barrel area, as investors remain cautious ahead of the decisions of the OPEC meeting that will clarify the current economic conditions for the oil market," said Myrto Sokou, senior research analyst at Sucden brokers.
Iraq indicated today that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should maintain its oil production ceiling at this week's output meeting in Vienna, arguing that it was wary of damaging the fragile global economy by cutting output which would raise prices.
"In general, OPEC targets -- in making the market well supplied -- are met these days and we do not want to cause a shock to the market which will affect the global economy," Iraqi Oil Minister Abdulkarim al-Luaybi told reporters in the Austrian capital, on the eve of the meeting.
Ministers from OPEC member countries have expressed satisfaction with current benchmark Brent crude price of about $100 a barrel.
Also today, "the weekly... Oil inventories report could give a better insight about the levels of the US oil demand and oil stocks", said Sokou.
She added: "It is a very busy day in the US economic figures as the release of the US GDP data and housing figures along with the weekly jobless claims data will set the tone in today's trading session."
Oil prices had closed almost two dollars lower yesterday after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which groups industrial economies, trimmed its forecast for 2013 world economic growth to 3.1 per cent from 3.4 per cent.
The same day, the International Monetary Fund trimmed its 2013 growth estimate for China to around 7.75 per cent from 8.0 per cent, citing a sluggish global recovery which hurt exports, a mainstay of the world's second largest economy.
