Oil traded slightly higher in Asia on Friday but the longer-term trend is lower despite expectations the OPEC cartel could announce another production cut late this month, analysts said.

New York`s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, rose 32 cents to 58.56 dollars a barrel after a gain of 2.08 dollars to 58.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Brent North Sea crude for January delivery rose 27 cents to 56.51 dollars a barrel.

The December contract expired at the close of trading in London on Thursday, down 38 cents at 51.99.

Oil prices have been trading in line with equity markets, which were higher in Asia on Friday after Wall Street`s powerful rebound, said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants in Singapore.

`I would say that given the fears about global recession, I wouldn`t trust this bounce in oil pricing and the bounce in stock markets,` he said.

Since scaling historic highs above 147 dollars in July, prices have shed about 60 percent on mounting evidence of slowing global economic growth and energy demand.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was `very likely` to hold an emergency meeting on November 29 in Cairo to discuss tumbling crude prices, an OPEC source told AFP on Thursday.

The cartel`s president, Chakib Khelil, indicated last weekend that output may be further reduced if oil prices remain below the cartel`s preferred range of 70 to 90 dollars a barrel.

OPEC pumps about 40 percent of the world`s oil. The group decided last month to cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day to 27.3 million barrels, and analysts say that if oil prices remain under pressure, the cartel will likely announce further reductions in output.

On Thursday the International Energy Agency (IEA), policy adviser to major industrialised countries, slashed its 2009 oil price forecast to 80 dollars a barrel from 110 dollars.