Expectations of further production cuts by OPEC along with reports of violence in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, have exerted pressure on oil prices, pushing them higher. Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose to US$62.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members have been pressing for a cut in output to top the 1.2 mln bpd production cut that was approved in October. In Nigeria, a militant group attacked a southern oil export terminal belonging to a subsidiary of Italy's Eni SpA early Thursday, taking three Italians and a Lebanese hostage and killing another person. The group vowed more attacks will follow if their long-standing demands are not met.
On the demand side, forecasts of warmer weather in the United States next week, kept buying under control. National Weather Service has forecast above-normal temperatures through most of USA next week. Unusual warming of water in the Pacific Ocean known as El Nino is expected to continue into winter, possibly resulting in warmer than normal temperatures over the western and northern United States and western and central Canada.
08-Dec-06 
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