Oil rose toward $34 per barrel on Thursday, hitting a three-week high and bouncing well off a 12-year low set this month, supported by the possibility that major producers may cooperate to cut production. Russian officials have decided they should talk to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries about output curbs to bolster oil prices, the head of Russia’s pipeline monopoly said. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries such as Nigeria and Venezuela have called for cuts to bolster the oil price, which has halved since last May. Until this week, however, there were few signs that the biggest producers were ready to make such a move. “The fact that the bigger oil producers are talking in these terms is limiting the downside,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said. […]