WORLD oil prices advanced in Asian trade on Tuesday, extending gains from overnight on increased expectations that Opec will unveil plans to cut its output this week, dealers said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was 26 cents firmer at US$74.51 (S$110) a barrel from its close of US$74.25 in the United States on Monday. The contract was up US$2.40 at the close on Monday.

Brent North Sea crude for December delivery rose 15 cents to US$72.18.

Crude prices have halved in value since reaching record highs above US$147 in July, prompting calls from key Opec members for the oil cartel to cut output when they meet Friday in Vienna.

Iran's ambassador to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) on Monday floated the idea that the cartel may agree at the meeting to cut production in stages, the official IRNA news agency reported.

'Different figures (for the size of cuts) are being talked about among Opec members,' Mr Mohammad Ali Khatibi was quoted as saying, adding that suggestions range from reductions of one to three million barrels a day.

'If three million barrels are cut at one time from Opec's production, the market will recover, but there is a possibility that this cut will occur in a number of stages and it appears that Opec is ready to cut a million barrels per day in the first stage,' he said.

Analysts from Societe Generale said Opec will likely announce production cuts of one million barrels per day at the meeting on Friday with more reductions to come in later meetings should the need arise.

'We believe that Opec will announce a cut in quotas of one million barrels per day,' Societe Generale's analysts said.

'We furthermore expect them to state clearly that they will cut more at the regularly scheduled December meeting, if needed, to prevent oversupply and stabilise prices.'

Opec member Libya said on Monday it backed a production cut of more than one million barrels a day.

'A cut in production by one million barrels per day is not enough to re-establish equilibrium on the market,' Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem told AFP.

'One million (barrels per day) is little. Offer exceeds demand by much more than one million barrels per day,' Mr Ghanem said, adding that he opposed staggered cuts.

On Sunday, Venezuela lent its support for a cut by Opec, whose members together pump about 40 per cent of the world's oil.

Crude prices slumped below US$70 on Thursday for the first time in more than a year, dragged down by prospects of reduced demand in the face of a global economic slowdown stemming from the world financial crisis. -- AFP