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March 19, 2004 2:00 PM, EST

The price of crude oil rose 57 cents to $38.50 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday morning. The rise was sparked by planned cuts in oil production by the world’s leading producers of crude, Bloomberg News reported.

The last time crude oil prices were this high, Bloomberg said, was during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Also on Friday, crude oil closed at a 13-year high of $38.30 a barrel in London.

The price of crude oil often impacts the prices of refined motor fuels like diesel and gasoline, both of which are major expenses of the trucking industry.

OPEC said it planned to cut oil production in the second quarter because it believed demand would relax going into the spring and summer, Bloomberg reported.

If OPEC does go forward with its planned cut, it could limit crude oil supplies for U.S. refin-ers heading into the summer driving season.