Oil prices firmed today after weekend reports that the OPEC producer's cartel has agreed the need to slash output later this month to avoid oversupply when winter demand tails off.
Benchmark Brent continued to flex its muscles gaining 37 cents to $25.55 a barrel but dipping from Friday's high of $25.95, while US light crude futures rose 23 cents to $28.18 in after-hours electronic trade.
OPEC' secretary general Mr Ali Rodriguez said yesterday the 11-member cartel had a consensus to cut crude oil supplies but had not decided by how much.
"For the time being there is a consensus to cut but how much we don't know," the former Venezualan oil minister said.
But OPEC would consider the United States' view that an output cut could trigger a price hike that could dent an already vulnerable US economy, he added.
US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson warned against what he called precipitous action to cut output.
"We would like to see no production cuts but we recongnise that there are realities," he said.
The OPEC secretary-general's comments continued to drive market momentum after growing confidence that OPEC would slice output last week fuelled a five-day rally that saw prices rise by $2 a barrel.
Reuters
