The global oil market is oversupplied by two million barrels per day (bpd), Iran's oil minister said Tehran on Sunday.

The OPEC oil exporting cartel, suffering from plummeting oil prices, faces further pain next year as a worldwide recession dampens demand for crude even more, analysts believe.

OPEC ended a hastily convened meeting in Cairo on Saturday without announcing new output cuts, despite the steep drop in crude prices and the threat it poses to member governments' national budgets.

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that it hoped to raise oil prices to $75 per barrel, but indicated that no measures would probably be taken until an OPEC meeting in the month of December in Algeria.

The price for crude oil produced by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries continued falling last Friday, when it dropped to $42.56, the cartel reported on Monday.

Having seen the crude prices slip from its peak of over $147 a barrel in July to below $50 late last week, the industry experts now believe that the most-keenly monitored commodity could see a level of $40 in the next few weeks.

Chakib Khelil's comments came as Iran called for a new output cut of at least 1 million barrels per day, in addition to the 1.5 million cut decided by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on October 24 to try to sustain slumping prices.

Iran, OPEC's number two oil producer, favours a cut in crude production of 1.0 to 1.5 million barrels per day when the oil cartel meets in Cairo later this month, state television reported on Saturday.

OPEC will hold a special meeting in Cairo on November 29 a spokesman for the organisation said on Friday amid some pressure in its ranks, notably from Iran, for a new output cut to hold up prices.

Oil prices fell on Friday, a day after slumping close to $ 50, despite growing expectations the OPEC crude exporters' cartel could cut output again later in November.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery advanced $2.80 to $63.84. Brent North Sea crude for December delivery rose $2.72 to $60.07.

OPEC president Chakib Khelil refused on Saturday to rule out another cut in the cartel's output if the price of crude oil remains below $70 per barrel before an OPEC meeting in December.

Oil prices rose today after slumping to 21-month low points below $60 on prospects of sliding energy demand because of a global economic slowdown, traders said.

Oil prices dipped below $66 per barrel on Wednesday as investor sentiment once again seemed to shift to the growing global economic malaise and its potential impact on energy demand.

OPEC's decision in October to slash oil output by 1.5 million barrels a day from November 1 will not immediately shore up crude prices, the cartel's current chief said on Sunday.

Iran is to cut down oil sales to the French energy giant Total by 70,000 barrels per day following an OPEC decision to slash output amid falling prices, the oil minister said on Saturday.

Oil prices fell below $66 a barrel on Thursday after data showed the US economy shrinking in the last quarter.

World oil prices advanced in Asian trade on Wednesday, mirroring gains on stock exchanges, as markets looked to an expected rate cut by the Federal Reserve to boost the flagging US economy.

The head of the OPEC oil producers’ cartel warned on Tuesday that it could cut output again if prices keep falling despite an emergency reduction last week.

Oil prices fell to 17-month low around $62 per barrel on Tuesday, in Asia on investor concerns a global economic slowdown could worsen, further undermining demand for crude.

Russia, Iran and Qatar, the three nations accounting for over 60 percent of global natural gas reserves, have agreed to set up a gas cartel on the line of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

World oil prices weakened in Asian trade on Monday with OPEC's decision to cut supply at a time of global financial turmoil seen as hurting already weak energy demand further.

Iran's OPEC governor said the organisation may consider another cut in oil production due to a glut in the market.

OPEC said on Friday it will slash oil output by 1.5 million barrels a day from November 1 as it seeks to shore up crude prices, triggering a verbal backlash from recession-threatened Britain and the United States.

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries hardliners stepped up pressure on Thursday for a controversial oil production cut at an emergency meeting of the cartel on Friday to decide how to shore up prices while the world heads into a recession.