Oil hovered near $59 a barrel in early trading this morning as traders awaited an OPEC meeting likely to seal a deal to cut output.
US light crude for November stood 3 cents higher at $58.96 a barrel, after falling $1.01 or 1.7 per cent a day ago, ending a three-day rising streak.
London Brent crude climbed 7 cents to $61.01.
Ministers from OPEC are scheduled to meet in Qatar tomorrow to clear a deal to remove 1 million barrels from daily output in an attempt to stem oil's drop from a high of $78.40 in July.
However, the group has been divided on whether it should cut the output from actual production of roughly 27.5 million barrels per day or from its nominal 28 million barrels per day ceiling, a disagreement analysts say has hurt the cartel's credibility.
Tomorrow's meeting may also provide the first public comment from the world's top producer, Saudi Arabia, which has been silent on the proposed curbs up to now.