Oil prices climb towards $138 a barrel

LONDON (AFX) -- Oil prices rose towards $138 a barrel on Tuesday, closing in on record highs, as Opec's president rebuffed calls from oil-consuming countries for increased supplies from the cartel.

At about 10:20 a.m., New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, was up 94 cents at $137.68 per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for August climbed by 1.03 to $136.94.

"Opec has already done what Opec can do and prices will not come down," the cartel's president Chakib Khelil told journalists Tuesday as he arrived for a meeting with EU energy officials in Brussels.