Oil steady below $58 ahead of OPEC meeting

U.S. light crude futures were unchanged at $57.65 a barrel at 1009 GMT, hovering within a dollar of a 2006 low after falling more than 2 percent the previous session. London Brent crude edged five cents higher at $59.63.

OPEC ministers were to meet in Qatar later on Thursday to finalize a deal to remove 1 million barrels from daily output, the first cut since April 2004.

But haggling between members in the last two weeks had weakened the group's influence over the market, analysts said.

"What is important is that we show credibility in the decision," Algerian Energy and Mining Minister Chakib Khelil told Reuters. "The credibility of OPEC is at stake."

Ministers hope the cut will stabilize oil prices, which have fallen 25 percent since mid-July's record high of $78.40.

"I don't think there's going to be a huge immediate impact on prices because the news has... already been priced in, unless they do something totally unexpected," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist with Japan's Mitsui Bussan Futures.

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah said he believed some members wanted an even bigger cut.

OPEC, which supplies a third of the world's oil, remained divided on whether to cut from actual production of 27.5 million barrels per day or from its nominal 28 million-bpd ceiling.

"The base of actual production is the fairest approach for all the members," Khelil said.

OPEC's proposed cut comes as global fuel stocks, especially in the United States, were at relatively high levels.

Prices fell sharply on Wednesday after U.S. data showed an unexpectedly big build in U.S. crude stocks, by 5.1 million barrels, pushing them further above seasonal norms and overshadowing sharp falls in fuel inventories.

Domestic distillate stocks, which include heating oil, fell a larger-than-expected 4.5 million barrels last week, while gasoline dropped 5.2 million barrels, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed. Reuters