Crude oil prices rose above $37 a barrel. Last week's 6.6% drop was considered to be excessive and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members talked of more production cuts over the weekend. Crude dropped last week as U. S. stockpiles gained on reduced demand for fuel.

"The recovery in the prompt March month likely represents a catch-up as we head to the contract's expiry this week," Harry Tchilinguirian, a senior oil-market analyst at BNP Paribas SA said. "March came under a lot of downward pressure on more crude oil inventory builds in the U. S. and a continuous flow of negative economic data, pushing it into unusually strong discount to April."

Crude oil for March delivery gained as much as 98 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $38.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $37.68 at 10:40 a. m. London time.

Tchilinguirian also said that OPEC supply cuts will definitely have an impact on consumer inventories. It is only a matter of time.

It is expected that the world oil demand is likely to rebound in 2010. It would rise by about 1 percent a year through 2013, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said in London today.