SINGAPORE -- World oil prices continued lower Wednesday after US President George W. Bush urged producers to take action over "very high" prices, traders said.

In morning trade, New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, fell 18 cents to $91.72 per barrel.

The contract closed closed down $2.30 at $91.90 in trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday.

Brent North Sea crude for February delivery settled down $1.94 at $90.98 on Tuesday in London.

Crude prices had soared to $100 per barrel at the start of the year, piling pressure on the economy of the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer.

Bush urged oil producers to take action, broaching a sensitive topic on the second day of talks with Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel.

With fears of a recession looming large in the United States, Bush said he would speak to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah "about the fact that oil prices are very high, which is tough on our economy."

"And that I would hope, as OPEC considers different production levels, that they understand that if ... one of their biggest consumers' economy suffers, it will mean less purchases, less oil and gas sold," Bush said.

OPEC is due to meet in Vienna on February 1 after shrugging off calls to increase output at its last meeting in December.

Responding to Bush, Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said: "We will raise production when the market justifies it."

USEFUL LINKS:
Department of Energy Oil Price Monitor
(http://www.doe.gov.ph/OPM/Oilmonitor.htm)