Oil prices made fresh gains today as OPEC members said they would press non-OPEC producers to join the cartel next year in cutting supply to defend a $25 target price.
Brent crude in London was 36 cents up at $27.00 a barrel, while New York light crude was 34 cents higher at $28.50 in electronic trade.
Prices have risen 6 per cent since OPEC agreed last week to cut 900,000 barrels per day, or 3.5 per cent, from supply from November 1st even as demand for their fuel rises ahead of the northern winter.
The group, which controls around half the world's exports, was acting to stop a forecast glut building as Iraq's post-war production slowly recovers and non-OPEC supply swells from the former Soviet Union.
OPEC ministers have said they also expect non-OPEC to curb supply next year to support prices within the cartel's $22-$28 target range if necessary.
Russia last year pledged production curbs to help OPEC support prices although analysts said Moscow's supply cuts were mainly cosmetic.
Big non-OPEC suppliers Norway and Mexico each said on Friday that they did not intend to cut production. OPEC oil ministers will next meet on December 4th in Vienna to set policy for the first quarter of 2004.