Crude oil rose on skepticism that OPEC members will follow through on a pledge to make up for any export losses from Venezuela, whose shipments have been disrupted by a 19-day strike.
Saudi Arabia, the top producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, will provide extra oil if necessary, said the country's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi.
Venezuela is OPEC's third-biggest member and normally pumps about 4 percent of the world's oil.
"OPEC wants to appear cooperative, but I doubt they'll actually pump more oil," said Bill O'Grady, director of fundamental futures research at AG Edwards & Sons Inc in St. Louis. "It would be risky to raise output. They might end up getting the oil to customers just as the Venezuelan oil returns to the market."
Crude oil for February delivery rose US$0.11, or 0.4 percent, to US$30.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.
The contract fell as low as US$29.86 after al-Naimi's comment. Prices were up 6.5 percent this week and 57 percent from a year ago.
In London, the February Brent crude-oil futures contract rose US$0.12, or 0.4 percent, to US$28.34 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.
The shortfall in exports from Venezuela may prompt OPEC members to reconsider their recent agreement to cut production, some ministers said.
"When we took that decision, the Venezuelan problem was there, but if there is a necessity we may discuss again the decision," Obeid Bin Seif al-Nasseri, the oil minister from the United Arab Emirates, told journalists in Cairo.
Striking workers at state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA have vowed to defy a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that ordered them to return to work.
Before the strike started on Dec. 2, Venezuela was exporting about 2.4 million barrels of oil a day, half to the US. Only three tankers have left Venezuela since the walkout began, striking oil workers said. Normally, 12 to 14 tankers depart daily. The country before the strike pumped 9 percent of the oil used by the US
"Two tankers are being loaded right now," Deputy Oil Minister Bernardo Alvarez said after a news conference.
It takes six to eight weeks for Persian Gulf cargoes to reach North America compared with a week from Venezuela.
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