Crude Up As Stocks Recover, OPEC News

Crude oil is firmer Wednesday, at $64.46/barrel, after European and Asian stocks surged and OPEC said it may meet again before December to consider a second cut in production in as many months.

Wall St closed almost 11% higher last night, posting its second largest points gain ever. This spilled over into Asian and European stocks with the Nikkei closing up 7.74%, and the UK's FTSE 100 index up 5.3% to 4,134, and France's Cac adding 5.9% in early European trade.

OPEC are due to meet again on 17 Dec and will probably reduce production again to avoid the growth of inventories, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said in an interview on state television.

But the of course he would say that wouldn't he? You can tell when the Venezuelan Oil Minister is lying, his lips move.

Of more significance perhaps will be the U.S. Energy Department report due later today that will probably show that U.S. supplies of crude oil, gasoline and distillate fuel all rose again last week as consumers curb demand.