Oil price rises ease after Opec vow

Oil prices are retreating from earlier gains in Asia, after Opec vowed to abide by its quotas but decided not to take the more dramatic step of slashing production targets.

Prices rose by more than a dollar after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting ended in the pre-dawn hours in Vienna, Austria, but have quickly eased.

Expectations that Hurricane Ike would pose little serious threat to US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas installations also are helping keep prices in check. Ike is expected to take a path would likely keep it well out of the way of Gulf Coast oil and gas installations.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery is up 8 cents to 103.34 dollars a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Dubai.