Brent drops below $113 as OPEC discusses output increase

Brent crude fell more than $2 on Tuesday to below $113 after Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC is in talks to boost production for the first time in more than two years, soothing markets rattled by the Middle East unrest.

Brent crude fell more than $2 on Tuesday to below $113 after Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC is in talks to boost production for the first time in more than two years, soothing markets rattled by the Middle East unrest.

An official output increase by OPEC would signal the group's determination to put a cap on prices and keep the global economic recovery on track after revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and protests from Morocco to Oman sent Brent crude to almost $120 a barrel last month, the highest since 2008.

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A brewing civil war in Libya has idled as much two-thirds of the country's oil output, or 1 million barrels per day (bpd), eliciting calls from consumers of OPEC oil to boost production.

"We are in consultations about a potential output increase," Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah told reporters, adding that there was no decision for the group to produce over quotas yet.

Brent crude for April fell $2.05 to $112.99 a barrel at 0758 GMT, down almost $7 from a Feb. 24 peak of $119.79, the highest price since 2008, when it reached a record $147.50. U.S. crude fell $1.92 to $103.52.