Oil prices climbed above $63 on Friday, extending the previous session's modest gain but staying in a tight range ahead of a meeting of top producers next week to decide whether to cut output again, Reuters reported.
U.S. crude was up 63 cents at $63.12 a barrel at 0940 GMT. London Brent crude rose 84 cents to $63.41.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, said $60 a barrel was an acceptable level for benchmark crude oil prices, and it was opposed to any dramatic fluctuation in prices.
"Our continuous policy is that price corrections should be incremental and they should be equitable for both producers and consumers," Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, told an audience in the U.S. on Thursday.
“We don't want to see exorbitant hikes or exorbitant drops."
He stressed that Saudi Arabia, OPEC's leading producer, didn't want to disrupt consumer economies.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets next Thursday in Nigeria to decide whether to deepen the 1.2 million barrels per day cut it initiated on November 1.
Several members have supported a further reduction.
Some analysts predict the group would cut output further to counter the ample U.S. heating stocks, which are at the highest level for this time of year since the early 1990s.
"I think OPEC will cut production to support prices till the second quarter of 2007. The supply side is too strong right now," said Ken Hasegawa, a manager at Himawari CX, Japan's largest commodities futures broker.
"They will need to cut at least 500,000 barrels per day if they want prices to stay above $60," he said.