NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures traded near $89 a barrel Thursday, as traders weighed speculation about an emergency OPEC meeting against concerns about a slowdown in global oil demand.
Crude oil for November delivery fell 10 cents to $88.86 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex early Thursday.
"Market participants are still very much concerned that demand will continue to dwindle as global economies continue to slow sharply," said analysts at Sucden Research in a note.
"However, increased expectations that OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] may hold an energy meeting and cut output is underpinning the market."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that some OPEC cartel members are calling for an emergency meeting, according to media reports.
On Wednesday, crude fell $1.11, or 1.2%, to close at $88.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Energy Department reported that crude supplies rose for a second week, up 8.1 million barrels to a total of 302.6 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 3.
In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies, putting some pressure on dollar-denominated commodities such as oil. The dollar index gained 0.3% to 80.86.
The Japanese yen retreated and traditionally high-yielding currencies rebounded Thursday following a modest revival in risk appetite, analysts said. See Currencies.
Also on the Globex, November reformulated gasoline gained 1 cent to $2.04 a gallon, while November heating oil dropped 2 cents to $2.47 a gallon.
Natural gas for November delivery gained 5 cents to $6.79 per million British thermal units.
The Energy Department will release its weekly update on gas in storage Thursday morning. Analysts at Global Insight expect to see an increase of 82 billion cubic feet covering the week ended Oct. 3.
