US oil prices climbed over US$30 a barrel on Friday as the market woke up to a growing perception that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia was determined to rein in production to keep prices high.
Buying was spurred by speculators, but analysts and traders said the price was supported by many fundamental factors, including the sense that supplies in the fourth quarter will be limited and demand good.
New York light crude oil futures climbed US$0.56 to US$30.40 per barrel, the highest settlement in five week, while London Brent crude oil was up US$0.44 to US$28.71 a barrel.
Prices are up roughly 12 percent since OPEC decided on Sept. 24 to cut production by 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 24.5 million bpd from Nov. 1.
A Reuters output survey showed Saudi Arabia cut production sharply last month to make room for growing Iraqi output, paving the way to reach the new, lower OPEC production quotas, which shocked the market when they were announced.
"There are a lot of things in the back of the mind which are all pointing to the possibility for production to be a little bit lower, for demand to be a little bit higher," said Barclays Capital oil market analyst Kevin Norrish.
"The numbers indicate that Saudi Arabia is very much determined to cut," he said, adding that there was also concern over winter fuel availability.
Tropical storm Larry lurking in the southern Gulf of Mexico, meanwhile, forced shut three Mexican oil ports -- raising concerns that some US refineries might need to reduce operations due to delayed shipments of oil.
Shell Deer Park, a joint venture refiner of Royal Dutch/Shell Group's Shell Oil and Mexico's Pemex, said on Friday it expected its Texas plant to run at near normal rates at least through the weekend.
The storm, which is not expected to hit the Mexican coast until next week, was seen as being too far south to disrupt US oil and gas operations in the Gulf.
Other factors were mixed. OPEC member Nigeria's two main oil unions deferred a threatened strike against fuel price liberalization, ostensibly a price-negative factor, traders said.
Nigeria's two unions gave the government a week to resolve a clash over plans to deregulate fuel prices.
But the country's umbrella labor union, the Nigeria Labor Congress, has signaled that protests could start as soon as this weekend.
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