Oil clings near $68 ahead of OPEC meet

Oil prices clung near USD 68 a barrel for a fourth day in Asia.

Oil prices clung near USD 68 a barrel for a fourth day in Asia as investors looked to this week’s OPEC meeting for a possible change in the cartel’s production.

Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 12 cents at USD 68.14 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract Friday rose 6 cents to settle at USD 68.02.

Trading volume was light in Asia today ahead of the Labour Day holiday in the US.

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Traders are eyeing Wednesday’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. OPEC President Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos,who is also Angola’s oil minister,said last week that the 12-member group will likely keep output quotas unchanged.

Crude prices have swung wildly in the past year,reaching USD 147 a barrel in July 2008 before plunging to USD 32 a barrel in February. Saudi Arabia,OPEC’s biggest producer,has said USD 75 is a fair price for consumers and producers.

In other Nymex trading,gasoline for October delivery was steady at USD 1.77 a gallon,and heating oil held at USD 1.72 a gallon. Natural gas fell 6.4 cents to USD 2.66 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London,Brent crude was up 33 cents at USD 67.15.

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