NYMEX crude steadies below $98, OPEC comments eyed

SYDNEY Jan 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures held steady just below $98 a barrel on Monday, pausing after the previous session's decline, as the market weighed OPEC's comments on the price outlook against bleak U.S. employment data.

* NYMEX crude for February delivery CLc1 fell 13 cents to $97.78 a barrel in Globex electronic trading by 2313 GMT. U.S. oil closed $1.27 lower at $97.91 on Friday, slipping further from the record high of $100.09 struck on Jan. 3 after poor U.S. jobs data heightened concerns about the health of the economy.

* OPEC president Chakib Khelil said on Saturday he expected oil prices to keep rising during the first quarter of this year before stabilising in the following quarter [ID:nL05671827].

Khelil also said that oil supplies were adequate and attributed the steady rise of oil prices to political tensions in in Pakistan, escalating violence in Nigeria and a decline of oil inventories in the United States.

* Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Sunday that the rise in oil prices to a record high had been determined by market forces, but declined further comment on what action the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would take at its next meeting on Feb. 1 in Vienna. [ID:nSP77881]

* An oil official from Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, said many OPEC states were now producing as much oil as they can, limiting the ability of the cartel to raise output even if such a decision was made to help cool crude prices. [ID:nHOS535550]

* OPEC last month pumped beyond the rate targeted in a pact to boost output, led by a rebound in supply from the United Arab Emirates, a Reuters survey showed Friday.

OPEC's 10 members bound by output targets -- which excludes Iraq, Angola and Ecuador -- pumped 27.39 million barrels per day (bpd), up 410,000 bpd from November.

* Oil fell on Friday after a government report showed the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 5 percent in December, its highest in more than two years. The bleak unemployment report was the latest signal that top energy consumer United States could slide into a recession later this year.

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Diary of upcoming energy news and events [O/DIARY] Oil prices as of 2313 GMT Contract Mnth Price Change Day ago pct MA-20* NYMEX Contracts US Crude FEB8 $97.78 -0.13 -$1.27 -1.28% $93.32 Heat Oil FEB8 268.35 +0.00 -3.56 -1.31% 248.31 RBOB FEB8 251.10 +0.00 -3.04 -1.20% 239.05 Natgas FEB8 $7.818 -0.023 +$0.167 +2.18% $7.269 ICE Contracts Brent FEB8 $96.69 -0.10 -$0.81 -0.83% $92.66 Gasoil JAN8 -- +0.00 -$14.00 -1.63% $821.18 Note: U.S. heating oil and RBOB gasoline contracts listed in cents per gallon. * = 20-day moving average for continuation month. (Reporting by Fayen Wong)