Brent blend futures for January by midday in London were off13 cents at $24.23 a barrel.

Brent's December contract, trading at a premium, had peaked at $25.02 a barrel shortly before expiry on Monday, a price not seen since October 1996.The latest leg of oil's nine-month-old rally has come amidrenewed concerns that OPEC supply curbs will sharply drain already lean oil inventories ahead of the northern hemisphere winter.

Many OPEC ministers have said they will consider retaining the output limits beyond their scheduled expiry next March despite evidence that goals set out earlier this year have already been met.

Cartel price hawks like Kuwait want to keep prices rising further this winter."The range we are after is $25-$28 a barrel (for Brent),"Sheikh Saud told Reuters in Kuwait.

"The market is proceeding well. Don'T meddle with it," wasthe Kuwaiti Minister's advice.

He will participate in a round of discussions in the MiddleEast which will set his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and non-OPEC Mexico hold talks in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Ali Rodriguez said at an industryconference in Paris on Tuesday that exporters "maybe" would extend the duration of the supply limits.

He said it was certain cuts would remain in place at leastuntil end-March but also admitted that it was possible that stockpiles would be lower than normal by the spring.