Oil prices continued to cruise just below $30 a barrel today as more members of the OPEC producers' cartel came out to back output cuts expected to be adopted at next week's ministerial parley.
US benchmark light, sweet crude traded 10 cents up at $29.51 a barrel after profit-takers yesterday shaved seven cents off prices.
Both Iraq and Venezuela put their weight behind production curbs of between 1.5 and two million barrels per day (bpd), equivalent to 5.5 per cent of total group production of 26.7 million bpd.
OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia favours cutting 1.5 million bpd off the output ceiling while price "hawks" such as Kuwait and Qatar want a bigger two million bpd.
Riyadh informed customers worldwide yesterday to expect lower deliveries in February, signalling the kingdom's intent OPEC would adopt output restraints at the January 17th policy meeting.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) believes crude supplies outstrip demand following production hikes last year amounting to 3.7 million bpd.
Reuters