Oil prices rose today after suggestions from Opec members that they are looking at ditching the dollar and fears that next month’s planned output hike from the cartel will be too late to calm the markets.

In London, January Brent crude futures added 53 cents to $92.15 a barrel.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 81 cents to $94.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Speaking in Riyadh over the weekend, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, called the dollar a “worthless piece of paper,” and said that cartel’s members have expressed interest in converting cash reserves out of the US currency.

The sentiment was echoed by Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President, who cited the euro as a better option.

That led to appeals for calm from Saudi Arabi.

“Opec shouldn’t be used as a political organisation,” the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at the event's closing press conference yesterday.

“Oil should be a tool for development and not a tool for conflicts."

Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz, said: “The fact that the Opec members are talking about issues like the weak US dollar and not talking about raising output is supportive of strong pricing and so we’re seeing signs of the market gaining strength.”

With oil prices rising towards the $100 a barrel, the US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman recently called on Opec to raise output.

However, yesterday's final declaration from the newly enlarged 13-member Opec only pledged reliable supplies while urging for world peace to help stabilise prices.

Oil ministers will meet next month in Abu Dhabi to discuss the cartel’s output.

The slide in the dollar, which has lost 15 per cent of its value against the euro in the last 12 months, has hit oil exporters' earnings.

The dollar was mixed against other currencies today in the wake of soft economic news from the US.

In early European trade, the euro fell to $1.4637, from $1.4659 in New York late on Friday.

The pound was worth $2.0532, up from a session low of $2.0452.

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