NYMEX crude steady near record peaks

PERTH, May 12 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were steady on
Monday, after jumping to a new record of above $126 a barrel
last week, supported by fuel supply concerns and violence in
the Middle East.

* NYMEX crude for June delivery CLc1 rose 3 cents to
$125.99 a barrel in Globex electronic trading by 2240 GMT. It
closed $2.27 higher at $125.96 a barrel on Friday, before
rising to a record $126.27 in late post-settlement trade.

* An OPEC source said on Friday the group might consider
boosting output before its next scheduled meeting in September
should crude oil prices keep rising [ID:nL09831021], but
Ecuador's and Qatar's oil ministers said there were no plans
for an early meeting as soaring prices were out of OPEC's
control.

"We don't need to meet before September because we have
nothing to do before September," Qatar's oil minister Abdullah
al-Attiyah told Reuters by telephone on Sunday. "The oil price
is out of our control." [ID:nL11270772]

* Oil prices were also supported by unrest in the Middle
East. Turkey said on Sunday it had launched air and artillery
attacks against Kurdish separatist rebels in northern Iraq
overnight after an insurgent strike on a military base.

* Continued violence in Lebanon also helped to keep oil
prices at record levels. Although Lebanon is not an oil
producer, civil unrest there has pushed up oil prices in the
past.

Hezbollah, which is also backed by Syria, and its allies
have in recent days attacked pro-government gunmen in Beirut in
Lebanon's worst civil strife since the 1975-1990 civil war.

* Oil's surge on Friday came amid large gains in heating
oil and gasoline. Tight supplies on both side of the Atlantic
supported gains in heating oil, while expectations of higher
gasoline demand in the summer driving season drove gasoline
prices to a record high on Friday.

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(Reporting by Fayen Wong)