October 3, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 6, 1424

LONDON, Oct 2: Oil prices shot higher on Thursday after Venezuela suggested another Opec production cut was in the offing for the December meeting, while also calling for a higher target price band.

The price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude oil for November delivery gained 48 cents to $28.36 here in late trading.

New York’s reference light sweet crude November contract won 45 cents to $29.84 a barrel in early deals.

Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez predicted a day earlier that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would cut production again when it meets on December 4, having last week unexpectedly trimmed output by 3.5 per cent.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez meanwhile suggested that Opec’s target price band should be increased from $22-28 per barrel to $25-32.

Ramirez said that the new price band might be discussed at an Opec heads-of-state summit in 2005.

“If Opec do decide to go down that route, then it can only be bullish because Opec has demonstrated in the past three years their ability to keep prices within their band,” said Barclays Capital analyst Orrin Middleton.

“So if they want to increase the target up to $25-32, they would be able to achieve that.”—AFP