World oil prices rebounded today above $100 a barrel after a surprise decision by the Opec cartel to cut production by 520,000 dollars a day.
Announced after a marathon meeting in Vienna, the cut immediately boosted prices which had fallen below $100 a barrel yesterday, extending their dramatic decline from a peak above $147 in July amid a global economic slowdown.
Oil prices rebounded in Asian trade, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, up $1.41 cents to $104.67 a barrel while Brent North Sea crude rose $1.06 cents to $101.40.
Opec President Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said the output cut would start immediately.
"If you do your own calculations, it is a cut of 520,000 barrels per day," said Khelil, announcing a new Opec output quota of 28.8 million barrels per day.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) meanwhile cut its estimate for global oil demand this year and next, saying consumers mainly in the United States are changing their lifestyles in response to high prices.
The IEA's monthly report was printed before Opec's overnight announcement. US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman had asked for producers to keep oil markets well supplied before the Opec meeting started.
But the group's Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri insisted, "The United States can order its companies (around), but not Opec."
Oil sank below $100 a barrel for the first time since April yesterday as the oil ministers gathered for the meeting.
