Oil prices continue to hit records, despite OPEC signals that the cartel will pump more in April than it did in March.

May crude oil futures rose $0.91 to $58.18 a barrel, topping the previous high of $58.16 reached on Mar. 17.

An OPEC delegate said that the cartel’s April output will total 28.1 million barrels per day (bpd), which is 400,000 bpd over the production the month before.

Besides, on Saturday OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah declared his intention start talks with member producers on Sunday over a 500,000-bpd increase to ward off a surge in oil prices this year.

"We had suspended [discussions] for a period of time because of the decline in prices," Opec President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said.

"But now the reality of prices requires that we once again undertake communications for the purpose of consultations with the fellow Opec oil ministers... pertaining to the 500,000 barrel per day hike."

The most recent hike in prices was triggered by a Goldman Sachs report on Thursday that predicted a "super-spike" that could push prices towards $105, and a power failure at Venezuela’s Amuay oil refinery that had to close its units reducing supply.

``Gasoline really is the driver,’’ Daniel Hynes, a natural resources analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said before the start of trading. ``Capacity utilization is relatively high and gasoline stocks, while not that low, could be a bit higher.’’

Gasoline stocks lost 2.9 million barrels to 214.4 million barrels in the week ended March 25, said the US government report.