Oil prices reached a seven-week high Dec. 13, driven by a cut in OPEC oil output, concern about war and a strike in Venezuela that has crippled production in the world's fifth largest oil exporter, according to press reports.

OPEC said it would seek output of 23 million barrels a day as of Jan. 1. That's down almost 1.4 million from the 24.38 million barrels per day (bpd) pumped by the 10 members with quotas last month.

Oil prices have risen by about a third this year to more than $26 a barrel as OPEC restrained sales and concern mounted about Iraq and the oil strike in Venezuela.

"Many truckdrivers could be out of business should fuel prices rise by 50 cents a gallon and it certainly could happen in a matter of just a few days," said Todd Spencer, executive vice president, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. "During times of trouble, Saudi Arabia always says it will make up the shortfall, but what if it couldn't?"

For example, Saudi Arabia said it would "absolutely" stick to its new limit. Saudi Arabia told its customers in Asia they would receive lower crude supplies in January. Riyadh's European and U.S. customers were expecting to receive notice of lower volumes, press reports said.

"We know this is a really important issue for truckers," Spencer said. "But it obviously wasn't to lawmakers who adjourned without passing fuel surcharge legislation."

Meanwhile, The U.S. Energy Department said Dec. 12 it could lend crude from the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve to U.S. oil companies whose refineries are suffering a shortage of supplies from Venezuela.

On the positive side, there appears to be widespread skepticism about the producer group's ability to enforce discipline across all member countries or to get anywhere near a cut of 1.7 million bpd.

John Cook, head of the U.S.'s Energy Information Administration's Petroleum Division, said OPEC would likely fall short of its new goal to cut actual oil output by 1.7 million bpd, and instead would only be able to shave 500,000 bpd from production.

--By Dick Larsen, senior editor