October 5, 2006 2:59 PM, EDT

Oil Tops $60 a Barrel on OPEC Worries

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rude oil futures continued to rebound from Tuesday’s seven-month low, topping $60 a barrel at the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Oil rose on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may slash production to boost prices, Bloomberg said.

The consortium will hold an emergency meeting beginning October 18 at its Vienna, Austria headquarters to discuss falling oil prices, Bloomberg reported.

A majority of OPEC members support a production cut of about 1 million barrels a day, Bloomberg said.

Crude oil futures fell 62 cents to settle at $60.03 a barrel on Thursday.

On Tuesday, crude oil futures reached a seven-month low of $58.60 a barrel as traders shrugged off reports that OPEC members Nigeria and Venezuela planned to cut production by a combined 170,000 barrels a day. (Click here for previous coverage.)