Oil prices rose sharply toward $50 a barrel Monday as investors anticipated OPEC will announce a large production cut at its meeting this week, according to The Associated Press.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up $3.24 to $49.52 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by mid-afternoon in Europe. The contract briefly reached $50.05 before falling back. On Friday, it fell $1.70 to settle at $46.28.