Oil futures may bounce back in '09

Oil futures may rebound from their worst year to average $60 a barrel next year as OPEC makes record production cuts to counter the deepest economic slump since World War II.

The forecast, the median of 33 analysts compiled by Bloomberg, represents a 50 percent gain from Monday's $40.02 closing price. A 14 percent reduction in supply, equal to 4.2 million barrels a day, pledged by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will erode US crude inventories that rose 10 percent this year as the slowing economy reduced world demand for the first time since 1983.

While oil tumbled from a record $147.27 in July consumers in the US, Japan and Germany faced their first simultaneous recessions in six decades. The plunge risks curtailing investment in new rigs, refineries and alternative energy sources, setting the stage for a supply crunch later on.