LONDON, Feb 21 (AFP) - Oil prices rose in London on Monday, supported by fears that OPEC could cut production next month, even amid colder weather in the US northeast and Europe, analysts and traders said.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in April gained 65 cents to 46.99 dollars a barrel in electronic dealing.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, closed up 81 cents to 48.35 dollars a barrel on Friday.
Heavy New York buying had been sparked by a cold wave hitting the US northeast -- a major consumer of heating oil -- and traders wanting to avoid being short ahead of a three-day US holiday weekend, dealers said.
Prudential Bache trader Christopher Bellew said prices continued to gain Monday, also because of colder weather across Europe.
According to analysts for the Sucden brokerage firm, crude prices were winning support on "indications from OPEC that a sharp (price) fall on the market or a rapid (US) stock build would put a supply cut on the agenda for the cartel's next meeting in Iran in March".
In an interview published Monday, the chief executive of French energy giant Total said Western oil companies must have better access to oil and gas reserves in OPEC countries and Russia to continue increasing their output.
Thierry Desmarest, speaking to London's Times newspaper, said Total was able to replace its production only by exploration -- the "classical route" of finding new oil reserves.
"Our target is to continue to grow (output) at 4.0 percent per year. To obtain the additional reserves to keep production growing at 4.0 percent per year we need to conclude agreements with producing countries to get access to reserves," he said.
The French oil chief meanwhile pointed to Total's investments in Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' members such as Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela as key elements of its portfolio.
"This plea for OPEC countries to grant access to their reserves illustrates the difficulty that international oil companies face in locating good investment opportunities at present," Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said.
Traders were meanwhile keeping a close watch on major oil producer Venezuela, OPEC's only Latin American member.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Sunday to suspend oil exports to the United States if someone tried to assassinate him, adding that US President George W. Bush would be to blame.
"If they kill me, there will be a really guilty party on this planet whose name is the president of the United States, George Bush," Chavez said on his weekly radio program, "Hello, Mr. President."
"If, by the hand of the devil, those perverse plans succeed ... forget about Venezuelan oil, Mr. Bush," he said.
Chavez said he was convinced that Washington was "sketching out the assassination plans" before his Bolivarian Revolution advances in Venezuela and Latin America.
Venezuela sells about 1.5 million barrels daily to the United States, nearly as much as Saudi Arabia.
02/21/2005 13:14 GMT - AFP