Origin Energy, fending off an $11 billion hostile bid from Britain's BG Group, has partnered U.S. major ConocoPhillips to help develop its coal seam gas through a liquefied natural gas project.

Oil rose on Monday as Hurricane Ike spun towards the U.S. oil hub in the Gulf of Mexico while traders awaited OPEC's decision this week on output policy.

Continued OPEC production at current levels would lead to over-supply of its crude in the first half of 2009, causing a fall in prices, Iran's OPEC governor was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico continued to recover slowly in the wake of Hurricane Gustav on Friday as a second fierce storm threatened to enter the energy-rich region next week.

Iran's OPEC governor said an oil price of $100 per barrel was "appropriate" in current conditions, the Oil Ministry's news agency Shana reported on Friday.

Oil prices sank to a five-month low Friday as a jump in the U.S. unemployment rate signaled to traders that Americans might keep paring back their energy use to save money.

Consensus is building within OPEC on the need to reduce oil output to prevent a supply overhang and prop up prices, analyst PFC Energy said in a report.

BP agreed a deal with the oligarch co-owners of TNK-BP on Thursday that overhauls the Russian oil major's management and sets a possible flotation of up to 20 percent of the company, ending months of increasingly hostile dispute.

U.S. crude oil futures ended more than $1 lower on Thursday, despite U.S. government data showing a surprise drawdown in crude stocks and even with gasoline supplies dropping for the sixth week in a row.

While the commodities bust isn't over yet, the long-term outlook is still bullish. So investors might want to cut back now but look for opportunities in the coming months

Oil prices dipped to below $109 a barrel on Wednesday, weighed down by slowing demand in the United States and other consuming nations and signs the U.S. oil sector would recover quickly from Hurricane Gustav.

OPEC may need to cut oil supplies by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), or nearly 5 percent, to balance global markets by early next year, Iran's OPEC governor said on Tuesday.

After failing to hold an important support level, gold is on its way to below $800, according to a technical analyst.

Several major U.S. refiners said early checks on Monday showed their facilities were unharmed by Hurricane Gustav, but at least two others were said to be considering dipping into the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep operations going after the storm shut down key waterways.

Oil fell below $110 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time since April as traders bet the U.S. oil industry would recover quickly from Hurricane Gustav.