LONDON, Sept 10: Oil rose on Wednesday in response to a surprise decision by Opec to cut production by about half a million barrels a day.

US crude was up nine cents at $103.35 a barrel by 1236 GMT. On Tuesday, it fell to a five-month low of $101.74.

London Brent crude was up 28 cents at $100.62, after a fall below $100 on Tuesday for the first time since April.

Opec lowered its output targets to 28.8 million barrels per day (bpd), a move the group’s president said would reduce output by 520,000 bpd.

“Since the market is over-supplied, the conference agreed to abide by September 2007 production allocations (adjusted to include new members Angola and Ecuador and excluding Indonesia and Iraq), totalling 28.8 million bpd,” it said in a communique.

The market drew additional support from reports of an earthquake that struck southern Iran near Bandar Abbas, site of a major Iranian oil refinery.—Reuters