Oil prices ticked upwards in London on Monday, boosted by calls for sharp output cuts from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery rose to 25.58 dollars a barrel from 25.18 at the close on Friday. The OPEC basket price for a mix of world crudes rose to 23.51 dollars on Friday from 23.25 on Thursday.
Prices were drawn higher following weekend calls by Iran and Iraq for significant cuts in production of up to two million barrels per day to underpin prices, which have fallen sharply from autumn high points above 35 dollars a barrel in recent weeks.
OPEC ministers meet in Vienna next week to consider their next move following the recent slump in crude prices. A production cutback of between one and 1.5 million barrels a day is considered the most likely outcome by market watchers.
But Iran and Iraq called for more.
"This decision at the upcoming meeting should involve a cut of at least 1.5 million barrels per day," said Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, the top adviser at Iran's oil ministry, quoted by the daily newspaper Aftab-e-Yazd.
"There is also the possibility of decreasing production by up to two million barrels per day," he added.
Iraq's Oil Minister Amer Rashid told reporters in Baghdad meanwhile: "We hope that OPEC will cut production at its upcoming meeting by at least between 1.5 and two million barrels per day to ensure a calm market."
Some dealers also ascribed the higher prices to the troubled talks aimed at forging a Middle East peace settlement. Security talks between Israelis and Palestinians in Cairo brokered by US and Egyptian mediators failed on Monday, according to a senior Palestinian official.
"The market is also stronger on the fact that the repeated talks between (US President Bill) Clinton, the Israelis and the Palestinians" failed, said GNI broker Robert Laughlin -- LONDON (AFP)
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