Oil shed morning losses in low-volume, high-volatility trading Friday as traders weighed growing demand concerns against the possibility of another OPEC production cut.

The benchmark oil contract recently swung higher by 75 cents to $55.18 a barrel after trading as low as $51.12 a barrel.  Trading volume was very light with many traders absent for the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. Such low volume trading often causes rapid price fluctuations in futures and equity markets. 

On Wednesday, markets received a higher-than-expected build in oil inventories, coupled with pessimistic economic data, which could still be weighing markets today.  This type of data generally indicates slowing demand, which tends to push prices down, analysts say. 

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is meeting this weekend in Cairo.  It is yet unknown whether the cartel will cut production in a bid to boost sagging oil prices – which have now fallen over 60% from their midsummer highs -- but any move could potentially shake oil markets. There is potential for Russia to join in on an OPEC production cut, which would make the move more powerful, analysts say.

"OPEC has this time around done an excellent job of not letting the market price a meeting before its start," Petromatrix Managing Director Olivier Jakob wrote in a research note. "They have downplayed the outcome of the meeting, pushed the cut expectations to December but the size of the latest US stockbuild now provides the potential for a surprise."

Retail gasoline prices continue sliding.  Drivers paid $1.84 on average nationwide for regular gas, as compared with $2.59 last month, and $3.10 last year, according to the AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge report.

Other energy markets were also in the black: Heating Oil jumped three cents to $1.70 a gallon, Wholesale Gas was up three cents to $1.18 a gallon, and Natural Gas was essentially flat at $6.51 per million British Thermal Units.

Metal markets were also higher: Gold edged higher to $820 per troy ounce, Silver jumped seven cents to $10.30 per troy ounce, and Copper edged higher to $1.66 per pound.