Tokyo ? With war fears unsettling world oil markets, analysts said consumers can expect no relief from high prices when OPEC meets next week in Japan even if output levels are boosted.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has pledged to keep markets stable and not use oil as an “economic weapon” in the event of a U.S. attack on Iraq.

But at Thursday’s meeting in Osaka, Japan, OPEC ministers are likely to clash on whether now before an attack is the time to temper prices with a boost in output.

“You have two factions in OPEC. One in favor of raising production, the other against raising production,” said Steve Turner, an oil analyst with Commerzbank in London. “There could be some fireworks.”

The United States, the world’s biggest oil importer, is seen as seeking a production boost from OPEC, the 11-nation cartel pumping roughly a third of the world’s crude.

Washington hopes an increase would steady energy markets if it goes to war against Iraq.

Analysts said that a fear of conflict has already boosted oil prices by $2 to $4 a barrel.

A war in Iraq, which straddles the world’s second-largest proven oil reserves, is likely to drive prices higher. But a spike would likely be brief because OPEC’s other members are estimated to have at least 5 million barrels a day in excess production capacity.

But the urgency for OPEC to act has already been undercut by a slight dip after Thursday’s speech to the United Nations by President Bush.

Light sweet crude for October delivery plunged 92 cents to settle at $28.85 a barrel in New York after Bush urged Iraq to comply with U.N. resolutions about reining in weapons of mass destruction.

Excluding Iraq, OPEC was producing between 1.5 million and 2 million barrels a day above its own quota in August, analysts said.

Another increase in production could put the cartel at risk of a sudden price collapse if a war doesn’t happen.