UPDATE 1-UK's Brown calls for pressure on OPEC on oil price

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By Adrian Croft

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Sunday for international pressure on oil producers' group OPEC to bring oil prices down.

"Clearly oil prices are very high. Clearly also there needs to be some international effort with OPEC to get the oil price down," he said in an interview with Sky News.

Brown also said it was a matter for finance minister Alistair Darling whether a two pence a litre fuel duty rise that has been postponed from April to October could be delayed further.

The Observer newspaper quoted sources in Brown's office on Sunday as hinting that the October rise may not go ahead.

Brown's comments on OPEC were among the strongest he has made on the need for action by oil producers to reduce crude prices, which have fallen back slightly after hitting a record near $120 a barrel last month.

They coincided with remarks by a senior Iranian oil official that oil prices might remain high until the end of the year and were not the result of a shortage of crude in the market.

Brown sees the high cost of petrol and energy as one of the reasons for voter dissatisfaction with his government which led to Brown's Labour Party suffering its worst local election defeat on record last Thursday.