NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures rose slightly to trade above $70 a barrel early Friday after tumbling more than 6% in the previous session, as traders continued to worry about a slowdown in global oil demand.
Crude oil for November delivery rose 82 cents to $70.69 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Earlier Friday, crude hit an intraday low of $69.84 a barrel.
"Crude prices were a little higher this morning, recovering from heavy losses yesterday," said analysts at Sucden Research in a note.
"However, the general sentiment remains negative, as investors are still haunted by fears of a sharp slowdown in demand for energy due to cooling of the global economy," they said.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said late Thursday that it has decided to reschedule its extraordinary meeting for Oct. 24 rather than Nov. 18 as previously announced.
The OPEC meeting, which will take place in Vienna, will focus on the global financial crisis, the world economic situation and the impacts on the oil market.
Qatar's oil minister said on Thursday that he expects OPEC to cut its output by no less than 1 million barrels per day at its upcoming meeting, Reuters reported, citing remarks by the minister, Abdullah al-Attiyah, on Al Jazeera television.
On Thursday, oil futures fell $4.69, or 6.3%, to finish at $69.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest closing mark seen on Nymex since late August 2007.
The decline came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that crude and motor gasoline supplies each rose for a third week in a row, while distillate inventories fell for a seventh-straight week.
On Wall Street Friday, the roller-coaster ride in equity markets looked set to continue on Friday, with U.S. stock futures trimming losses but still pointing to a lower opening after a strong push higher at the end of the previous session. Read more.
Also on the Globex, November reformulated gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.65 a gallon and November heating oil gained 1 cent to $2.10 a gallon.
November natural gas futures rose 13 cents to $6.84 per million British thermal units.
