September 27, 2003	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1424

LONDON, Sept 26: Oil prices nudged lower on world markets on Friday as traders locked in profits after a rally earlier in the week sparked by a surprise production cut by the Opec cartel.

The price of reference Brent North Sea crude oil for November delivery dipped 18 cents per barrel to 26.63 dollars in late trading.

New York’s benchmark light sweet crude November contract slipped 30 cents to 27.99 dollars in out-of-hours electronic trading.

“After the news from OPEC this week, there is a bit of profit-taking into the weekend,” said GNI trader Kevin Blemkin.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries surprised oil markets on Wednesday by agreeing to trim its overall production ceiling by 900,000 barrels per day to 24.5 million barrels, sending prices soaring.

The decision followed a sharp fall in world oil prices in the month ahead of the meeting at its Vienna headquarters.—AFP