Venezuela predicts further increase in global crude prices

'Everything indicates that the oil price will continue to get stronger,' Chavez, a price hawk in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), said during a political speech, without elaborating. On Friday, oil prices fell from peaks above $103 a barrel as Turkey's withdrawal of troops from northern Iraq eased geopolitical tensions, clipping the fund-driven rally to new inflation-adjusted highs.