* OPEC discussing holding extraordinary meeting - Qatar
energy min
* Iraq says oil production reached record high in December
* OPEC's Badri says sees signs that market is rebalancing
(Changes dateline from LONDON, changes byline, adds quote,
details, updates prices)
By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Oil prices resumed their slide
on Monday, falling about 4 percent to wipe out some of the surge
at the end of last week, on news that Iraq flooded a massively
oversupplied oil market with record output last month.
Brent crude LCOc1 , the global benchmark, was down $1.18 at
$31.00 a barrel by 11:29 a.m. EST (1629 GMT), down 3.7 percent
from its closing price on Friday, when Brent surged 10 percent.
The contract had traded to a 12-year low of $27.10 on Jan. 20,
before the two-day rally.
U.S. crude CLc1 traded $1.40 lower at $30.79 a barrel. The
contact had traded to a 13-year low of $26.19 on Jan. 20.
The losses came despite news that oil producer group OPEC
was evaluating holding an extraordinary meeting. Qatar's energy
minister said a request for such a gathering was being
discussed.
Iraq's oil ministry told Reuters on Monday that the country
had record output in December, with its fields in the central
and southern regions producing as much as 4.13 million barrels a
day. A senior Iraqi oil official said separately the country may
raise output even further this year.
"The news that Iraq has probably hit another record builds
on the oversupply sentiment," said Hans van Cleef, senior energy
economist at ABN Amro in Amsterdam.
"The oversupply will keep markets depressed and prices low,
and on the other hand short positions are in excessive
territory," he said.
Traders who had put on record short positions raced to close
them out on Friday, causing a near-historic rally that was
partially erased on Monday, adding to oil market volatility.
The advance of a blizzard toward the U.S. East Coast over the
weekend sent crude futures up 15 percent over two days last
week.
"The shorts have been very nervous in the past week and have
looked for excuses to accept some profits. They found it in the
ECB comments and the weather," said Jim Ritterbusch of
Chicago-based oil consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates, also
referring to remarks by European Central Bank President Mario
Draghi that fanned hopes for ECB monetary stimulus.
Analysts at Energy Aspects said Monday that global oil
inventories would continue to fill in the next months, but
should start to ease by mid-year.
However, OPEC's Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said at
an event in London that signs were already emerging that the
market was rebalancing.