Oil prices fell about 2% today, pressured by more gloomy US economic data and swelling stockpiles in the world's top energy consumer.
US crude fell 82 cents to $41.34 a barrel, while London Brent crude rose 20 cents to $45.10 a barrel.
US unemployment rose to a record peak in mid-January, while new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell for the fifth month in a row.
The feeble state of the US economy has hit demand for fuel and contributed to the biggest four-month buildup in nationwide crude stockpiles since 1990.
The fall came even though OPEC said it would consider further reductions in output.
OPEC members need an oil price above $50 to make exports worthwhile, the head of the cartel said today, adding that more production cuts were possible later this year.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumps 40% of the world's oil and late last year cut output by a total 4.2 million barrels per days as prices slumped from record highs of $147 reached in July.
Oil prices had risen yesterday as hopes for an economic rebound offset the impact of surging US crude oil inventories and a gloomy global outlook from the International Monetary Fund.
The US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude reserves jumped 6.2 million barrels in the week to January 23, which was more than double market expectations and indicated weaker demand.
Petrol stocks sank 100,000 barrels, confounding analysts' forecasts for a sizeable gain. Distillates, including heating fuel and diesel, fell by one million barrels.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), meanwhile, yesterday slashed its economic growth forecasts, predicting the severe financial crisis would brake global growth to the slowest pace in six decades.
