Reply #4: Oil bounces off 4-year lows to above $43 a barrel

[ozymandius]

SINGAPORE – Oil prices bounced off four-year lows to above $43 a barrel Monday in Asia after OPEC's president suggested the group could surprise investors with a large production cut later this month.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up $2.45 to $43.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by late afternoon in Singapore. The contract fell Friday nearly $3 to settle at $40.81. Prices fell as low as $40.50, levels last seen in December 2004.

Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Saturday the group could announce a "severe" reduction of output quotas at its next meeting on Dec. 17 in Algeria.

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In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose 5.18 cents to 95 cents. Heating oil gained 5.80 cents to $1.48 a gallon while natural gas for January delivery slid 20.6 cents to 5.59 per 1,000 cubic feet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices