Oil ends slide as OPEC hike seen unlikely

By Richard Valdmanis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday, pulling out of a steep slide from a record high earlier this month amid signs OPEC will reject calls from consumer nations for a hike in output.

Several members of the cartel have said they believe the world oil market is well supplied and that there is no need for the group to open up the spigots when it meets in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

U.S. crude settled up 60 cents to $89.31 a barrel, bouncing off a five-week low of $87.14 hit earlier in the day. London Brent crude traded up $1.54 to $89.80.

Prices remain down more than 10 percent from the November 21 peak of 99.29 a barrel as widespread worries the weakening U.S. economy could cut into world energy demand stemmed crude's record rally.

But the slump in price and the dimming demand outlook has also made OPEC more reluctant to add barrels.

"In the face of some potential declining economic activity, it wouldn't make sense (for OPEC) to move," said Eric Kalamaras, head of energy research at Wachovia Bank.

Consuming nations have urged OPEC to pump more oil to help temper shrinking inventories ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter and to stem prices.

But OPEC ministers, who agreed this year to hike output by 500,000 barrels per day effective November 1, insist oil's surge to record highs had been driven by speculators and not by a shortfall in supplies.