Oil prices rose above $44 a barrel Wednesday as the market looked to an expected OPEC production cut next week to help stabilize prices that have plummeted in recent months amid slowing global economic growth. Anticipation of the OPEC move has somewhat offset traders' expectations that weaker growth will cut into demand well into next year. Article Controls EMAIL REPRINT NEWSLETTER COMMENTS SHARE YAHOO! BUZZ Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up $2.13 to $44.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe. On Tuesday, the contract fell $1.64 to settle at $42.07. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 40 percent of global crude supply, has signaled it plans to significantly reduce output quotas at a meeting Dec. 17 in Algeria. Investors expect OPEC to slash production by at least 1.5 million barrels a day, matching the group's cut in October. Related Quotes MHP - $24.87 0.00 USEG - $1.62 0.00 Get Quotes: "The expectation of an OPEC cut is going some way toward curbing the downward momentum in prices," said Toby Hassall, an analyst at investment firm Commodity Warrants Australia in Sydney. "A cut of 1.5 million to 2 million barrels a day seems like a reasonable range." Investors will be watching for more signs of slowing U.S. demand in the weekly oil inventories report to be released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy (nasdaq: USEG - news - people ) Department's Energy Information Administration. Comment On This Story The report is expected to show that oil stocks rose 2.7 million barrels last week, according to the average of estimates in a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill (nyse: MHP - news - people ) Cos. Related Stories Estee Lauder Makes Up Emerging Markets Fixing The Shorts Many Newspapers Underwhelmed By CNN's New Wire Service; Plans Call For Fewer Than 30 Stories A Day Layoff Tracker General Motors: Myths And Reality Stories Videos The Platts survey also predicts that gasoline inventories rose 1.4 million barrels and distillates fell 1.6 million barrels last week. "The fact that we've seen quite a large build in inventories in the last couple months is a symptom of the weak demand environment in the U.S.," Hassall said. Prices have fallen about 70 percent since peaking at $147.27 in July. "We're probably in the early stages of forming a base at the moment, and the price will likely edge up toward $60 or $70 by the middle of next year," Hassall said. "We probably overshot on the downside the same way we overshot to the upside earlier this year." On the downside of prices, Vienna JBC Energy listed a series of negatives: projected shrinking global consumption; falling trade worldwide and reduced global air traffic. "Short-term data does not look any better, with a number of OECD states (Japan, Canada, Britain, France) publishing various (continued) recession indicators," said JBC in a research note. In other Nymex trading, gasoline and heating oil futures rose more than 4 cents to 98 cents. and $1.49 a gallon while natural gas for January delivery gained more 7 cents to $5.65 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, January Brent crude rose $2 to $42.44 on the ICE Futures exchange. ___ Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy contributed to this report.

Source