Key Opec ministers have repeatedly assured the market that the meeting will not see any adjustment in the group's output cut agreement, despite the current price strength.

October US crude futures on the electronic ACCESS system in Asia traded at $24.72 per barrel at 0715 GMT, unchanged from the close in New York on Friday.

In regular New York trade on Friday, the contract rose by 21 cents to close at $24.72. It had risen to an intraday high of $24.85 on Friday, the highest level since end January 1997. Traders said there was limited fresh news to stir the market, but positive comments by Opec ministers over the weekend were keeping the firm outlook intact.

Venezuelan Energy and Mines minister Ali Rodriguez said on Sunday, on arrival in Vienna for the Opec meeting, that he wanted the current output cuts to remain in place.

His remarks echoed thoseof Opec heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which said it was concerned more about keeping supply curbs to work off excess stockpiles, rather than how high prices were.

"We are not worried that oil prices will go higher. There is no higher level that we are concerned about right now. Our concern is that there would be no stock withdrawal," a senior Saudi oil official said in Vienna on Sunday.

Some producers have additionally signalled their desire to see the output cuts go on after March next year. On Saturday, ahead of the Vienna Opec meeting, Gulf Arab oil producers -- including Opec members i.e Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and non-OPEC members Oman and Bahrain -- met in Riyadh and discussed extending the output ceiling beyond March.

"It was discussed...There is an inclination towards this issue. But it cannot be finalised before March when we have to look at the market conditions then," Kuwait oil minister Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah said on his return from the one-day meeting.

TheUS crude futures prices have more than doubled from the 12-year low of $10.35 per barrel reached in December, largely due to the Opec accord in March to reduce production for a year.