Oil prices rose this evening as part of a wider rally on world markets as OPEC considered cutting oil production again to stem a slide that has sent prices to 22-month lows.
US crude rose 49 cents to $55.44 a barrel while London Brent crude was up 29 cents at $52.60.
Oil prices have dropped from record highs above $147 a barrel in July as the mounting economic crisis has hurt fuel demand in big consumer nations such as the US.
The steep drop in prices has prompted some members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to call for more production cuts, after the cartel agreed to remove about two million barrels per day from world markets since September.
OPEC ministers will gather in Cairo on November 29 to discuss falling oil prices, but it has yet to be confirmed that the meeting will be turned into a full-scale session. The group's next scheduled meeting is on December 17 in Algeria.
