Oil prices up after record falls

Oil prices rose almost 3% on Friday - but falling demand pushed crude to its biggest monthly drop in October.

US crude ended the month down 32% as demand continued to slow in the United States and other big oil users.

Oil reached a record of $147 a barrel in July, but prices have since fallen by more than half.

Members of the Opec oil cartel have called for more production cuts to boost prices - last week the cartel cut output by 1.5m barrels a day.

Oil prices were helped on Friday by a share price rally on Wall Street, which eased some investors' concerns about demand in a slowing global economy.

Supply cuts

In New York, light sweet crude oil closed up $1.85 to $67.81 a barrel. Earlier in London, Brent crude rose $1.61 to $65.32 a barrel dollars.

The price rises came amid signs that Opec was reducing supplies - in line with their agreement.

Kuwait informed customers it was cutting crude supplies by 5% in November.

Earlier in the week, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates told their customers they would receive less oil.

But the world's biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, has yet to inform its customers of any fresh curbs.

Venezuela has said Opec should further cut oil output by another 1m barrels a day and set a minimum price target of $70 or $80 a barrel.

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