Oil prices today rebounded above 47 USD in London but remained 100 dollars below record highs reached in mid-2008, as the global economic slowdown dampens investment in energy-drilling projects.
OPEC nations have collectively postponed 35 oil drilling projects as low crude prices deter investment, a top OPEC official said today.
In London trade, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March gained 97 cents to USD 47.19 a barrel.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for March, added 87 cents to USD 41.10 a barrel.
OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said the 35 projects had been shelved indefinitely.
"These projects are on hold... And will continue to be until the (oil) price recovers," Badri told reporters attending an energy conference in London.
The delayed projects are from among a total of 150 that OPEC states had planned to deliver over the next decade, he added.
OPEC nations pump about 40 per cent of the roughly 86 million barrels of oil consumed globally every day.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have seen oil revenues tank in recent months as a global economic slowdown hits demand for energy.
