VIENNA - OIL prices rose above US$43 (S$64.53) a barrel on Wednesday in Asia as the market looked to an expected Opec production cut next week to help stabilise prices that have plummeted amid slowing global economic growth.

At least for the short term, the anticipated Opec move overrode concern that the weaker growth would cut into demand well into next year.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up US$1.06 to US$43.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. On Tuesday, the contract fell US$1.64 to settle at US$42.07.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 40 percent of global crude supply, has signaled it plans to 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.

'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 US demand in the weekly oil inventories report to be released Wednesday by the US Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.

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 Cos.

The Platts survey also projects 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 US,' Mr Hassall said.

Prices have fallen about 70 per cent since peaking at US$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 US$60 or US$70 by the middle of next year,' Mr 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 2.5 cents to 96 cents. and US$1.46 a gallon while natural gas for January delivery gained 6 cents to US$5.64 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, January Brent crude rose US$1.04 to US$42.57 on the ICE Futures exchange. -- AP