Oil prices rose today, pulling away from 16-month low points before an OPEC meeting which is expected to cut oil output to shore up prices despite strengthening winds of recession, dealers said.
The market fell heavily yesterday on news that demand for crude was flagging in the US, the world's biggest energy consumer.
US crude rose $1.51 to $68.26 a barrel this afternoon, while London Brent crude gained $1.92 to to $66.44 a barrel.
The slumping global economy has damped oil demand in large consumer nations, helping push prices down from the record $147.27 a barrel struck in July.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is to meet in Vienna tomorrow, with the global financial system facing its worst crisis since the Great Depression.
OPEC ministers began arriving in the Austrian capital today, one day before the key meeting at which the cartel is set to cut its oil output, to help lift crude prices hit by a drop in demand caused by an economic slowdown.
Iran's oil minister said on arrival in the Austrian capital that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries should cut production by two million barrels a day.
Analysts expect the cartel to decide on a reduction of half a million to a million barrels per day.
OPEC produces 40% of the world's oil and its official output quota stands at 28.8 million barrels a day.
