Beirut, Lebanon ? As oil prices soared to new heights after a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, the nation’s influential oil minister tried to reassure markets Tuesday that OPEC would do its best to provide adequate supplies.

Oil prices surged Tuesday, the first day of trading on major markets since a weekend terrorist attack in the Saudi Arabia oil center of Khobar killed 22 people. U.S. light crude for July delivery climbed to $42.33 — the highest settlement price in the contract’s 21-year history, and a rise of $2.45 from Friday’s close on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Saudi Arabia was boosting its own production but not because the United States had pressured it to do so, Oil Minister Ali Naimi said Tuesday. He reiterated that he would push for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise its output ceiling by 2.5 million barrels a day, or 11 percent, when the group meets Thursday in Beirut to consider increases in production.

“OPEC will do its best to make the fundamentals right,” Naimi said.

OPEC pumps more than a third of the world’s oil, and its talks in the Lebanese capital are drawing exceptional attention. Crude prices have soared to uncomfortable heights in recent weeks due to a combination of strong global demand, low inventories in importing nations and fears about instability in key oil-producing states in the Middle East.

However, the weekend attacks have caused fresh alarm by exacerbating fears that terrorists could cripple the kingdom’s ability to export crude. Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading crude exporter and the only producer with significant spare capacity to pump more oil.

The attack was the second terrorist strike in a month on an oil-related target in Saudi Arabia.