Oil prices were hovering above US$74 a barrel Tuesday as investors expected OPEC to try to halt a three-month slide in prices by cutting production quotas at least 1 million barrels a day, according to The Associated Press.

At the same time, gains by the U.S. dollar against the euro were putting the brakes on any gains in oil prices.

"The general trend is still of uncertainty," said analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.

By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude for November delivery was down 26 cents to US$74.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, it rose as high as US$75.69. The contract gained overnight US$2.40 to settle at US$74.25.