Oil prices slipped off record highs of more than 75 usd a barrel in early afternoon trade here, as profit takers stepped in to realise gains from last week's sharp market run-up, dealers said. However they noted that ongoing concerns over Iran's controversial nuclear programme will continue to keep crude prices above 70 usd until the issue is resolved. The price pullback today came after global finance chiefs at the weekend called for action against runaway oil prices and OPEC member Kuwait proposed reactivating standby capacity in an effort to prevent further increases. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, was at 74.54 usd a barrel compared with its record close of 75.17 usd in the United States Friday. "It's a little pullback from the record last Friday," said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz. "However I still expect the market to remain strong. The Iranian issue is not going to be resolved any time soon so it will keep prices strong, he added Oil prices are about 80 pc higher than in January 2005 and more than three times the level of four years ago, fuelled also by strong demand from China and India, whose economies are booming. Iran insisted yesterday it would continue sensitive nuclear fuel cycle work despite the UN Security Council's deadline this Friday for it to freeze uranium enrichment. The market is concerned crude supplies from Iran would be severely disrupted in the event of any military action by Washington. Iran is the world's fourth largest crude producer and the second-biggest in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Aside from Iran, the market is concerned with tight gasoline supplies in the United States and the situation in Nigeria where 20 pct of its crude output remains offline following recent rebel attacks on the country's energy installations in the Niger Delta. Nigeria is Africa's biggest crude producer. The powerful 11-member OPEC cartel was to hold informal talks Monday on the sidelines of a major energy forum. The meeting opened in Qatar yesterday as Kuwait proposed reactivating a standby oil output of two million barrels per day in a bid to ease record high petrol (gas) prices. "As Kuwait, we support bringing the two million back to the market," Kuwait's Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed Fahd al-Sabah told reporters as he arrived in Doha for the 10th International Energy Forum. OPEC last made the standby oil output available in September in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the US Gulf coast, and then suspended it three months later.