NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures erased earlier losses, ending Friday's trading just one cent lower as members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries sent mixed signals on whether they will cut production at Saturday's meeting.
Crude for December delivery closed at $54.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It slumped 6% earlier to as low as $51.12.
Floor trading closed one hour early in a shortened session after Thanksgiving Day. In after-hour electronic trading, crude rose 2%.
For the week, the benchmark futures contract rose 9%, up for the first time in one month.
Members of OPEC are slated to hold a meeting Saturday in Cairo to review oil prices and the supply-demand balance. Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said Friday the group may defer the decision until the Dec. 17 meeting.
"There is nothing on the agenda" for OPEC's Saturday meeting about making a final decision on a third cut, Al Attiyah said to reporters upon arriving in Cairo, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Al Attiyah said a decision to cut output again would be more likely at the December meeting.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said his country will support trimming output further "if OPEC countries agree to cut," Dow Jones reported.
Nigerian Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia also said he would back a production cut.
"If OPEC fails to reduce output, then we could see oil markets head back to sub-$50 levels," wrote Nimit Khamar, an energy analyst at Sucden Research.
Since oil prices slumped from their record high near $150 a barrel in July, OPEC has cut its oil output twice in the last two months for a total reduction of about 2 million barrels a day.
But the production cuts haven't stopped the roller-coaster declines of crude prices. Oil ended below $50 a barrel on Nov. 20 for the first time since May 2005.
Members of OPEC have a bad record in terms of complying with production cuts. Several delegates have said they were likely only to measure compliance of previous cuts at Saturday's meeting.
"Historically, OPEC has had little success in defending prices during a recession or financial crisis," said James Williams, an economist at energy research firm WTRG Economics. "The clear intent of Saturday's meeting is to make an early assessment of compliance with the recent cut."
The global economic slowdown has dampened energy demand. Crude inventories in the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer, rose 7.3 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 21, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday.
Demand for motor gasoline fell 2.8% over the last four weeks compared to the same period a year ago. Distillate fuel demand declined 2.2%, and jet fuel demand fell 18%.
In other energy futures Friday, reformulated gasoline for January delivery ended slightly higher at $1.2096 a gallon. January heating oil fell 2% to $1.7271 a gallon, while January natural gas tumbled 5.4% to $6.51 per million British thermal units.
