Oil revisits 6-week high ahead of OPEC cartel meet
( 2001-12-28 15:38 ) (7 )

Oil prices jumped back to a six- week high on Friday ahead of an OPEC meeting that is set to agree production cuts, fired also by US data showing lower product inventories.

Buyers piled back in as OPEC was set to usher in tighter supplies under an unprecedented output cutting pact with major rival exporters, and on improved US market fundamentals, dealers said.

The latest American Petroleum Institute report showed a sharp 3.6 million barrel decline in US gasoline stocks last week to 206.52 million barrels, amid lower refinery output.

February US light crude futures gained 30 cents to $21.20 a barrel in electronic market by 0500 GMT, after touching a peak of $21.50, the highest since November 13, when it hit $21.97.

The rise regained a loss of 37 cents to profit-taking on Thursday, after a surge of $1.65 or nearly eight percent on Wednesday.

It also extended one of market's strongest rebounds since its slump of nearly 30 percent three months ago, after the September 11 attacks sent world oil demand reeling as the global economic picture worsened.

Brokers said further upside in oil prices now depended on what action the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel takes.

"If OPEC does something unexpected, this could really break the resistance to the upside and we may be looking at $22.60 next," one New York broker said.

Brokers said this was the level the market stood at in mid September, just before OPEC implicitly gave up defending its target price of $22-$28 a barrel for its basket of crudes, after three rounds of output cuts totalling 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2001.