Oil prices rebounded back above 42 dollars on Thursday as market attention focused firmly on OPEC's weekend output meeting, traders said.
Oil prices plunged on Wednesday after figures showed rising crude oil stockpiles in key consumer the United States and sentiment swung against expectations that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut output further.
In London on Thursday, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April rose 64 cents to 42.04 dollars a barrel.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for April, gained 51 cents to 42.84 dollars.
The New York contract slumped more than three dollars on Wednesday after the US Department of Energy said US crude oil reserves had increased by 700,000 barrels last week, slightly above market expectations.
The Energy Department report is crucial for the market because the United States is the world's biggest oil consuming nation.
Ministers of OPEC, the cartel that pumps about 40 percent of world crude, meet Sunday in Vienna to discuss whether to slash output in a bid to shore up prices.
OPEC agreed late last year to cut output by 4.2 million barrels a day as oil prices plunged from record highs of more than 147 dollars in July, with the economic crisis hurting demand.
"In the 'will they, won't they' debate on further OPEC cuts on (Sunday) March 15, we think they won't," said Peter Hutton, energy analyst at NCB stockbrokers.
"We think existing cuts are sufficient to start to tighten the market and will leave the second and third quarters in deficit when normally these are quarters of significant stock build."
