Oil prices fell below $60 a barrel in thin trading today amid doubts that Opec would cut output to lift crude prices.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery dropped 40 cents to $59.63 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore.
The contract rose 62 cents yesterday to settle at $60.03 a barrel on expectations that Opec would soon cut its output, though a representative of Saudi Arabia denied there was a deal to reduce production.
The president of the 11-member Opec body, Edmund Daukoru, did not clearly confirm or deny reports attributed to sources from member countries saying the cartel plans to trim its daily production by 1 million barrels.
A spokesman for Saudi Arabia's US ambassador said there is no plan in Riyadh to crimp supplies in order to prop up prices, however.
Traders said they doubted whether all Opec members would go ahead with any informal agreement intended to stem a 24 per cent decline in prices since mid-July.
Mr Daukoru, who is also Nigeria's oil minister, said the group was considering holding an emergency meeting before its scheduled December 14th conference.