October 14, 2006	Saturday	Ramazan 20, 1427

LONDON, Oct 13: World crude oil prices leapt by more than a dollar on Friday, recovering at the end of a week which witnessed New York crude strike the lowest point in 2006.

The market was focused on production problems in Norway, as well as falling US heating fuel stocks ahead of the peak-demand northern hemisphere winter, dealers said.

Traders were also digesting news that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was mulling an unscheduled October 20 meeting in Qatar to reduce output.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, jumped $1.19 to $59.05 per barrel in pit trading on Friday.

The contract had plunged on Thursday to $57.22 -- marking the lowest point since December 19, 2005, and a 27 per cent drop from its record high of $78.40 in mid-July.

In London on Friday, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery soared $1.28 to $60.04 per barrel in electronic deals.

Crude futures rose “on news of North Sea production losses,” said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish.Norway’s leading oil company, Statoil, and Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell said on Friday they had halted production at two oil platforms off the Norwegian coast after safety problems were detected in their lifeboats.

Elsewhere, an Opec output meet on October 20 in Qatar “is an option” being considered by member nations of the international oil cartel, an Opec spokesman told AFP.

“It is still something being discussed ... (but) there is nothing confirmed yet,” Opec spokesman Tareq Amin added on Friday.

The market has been waiting more than two weeks for a clear signal from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in reaction to plunging crude prices over the last two months.