Oil prices were firmer in Asian trade Tuesday ahead of this week's OPEC meeting with no clear signals as to whether the cartel will raise output. In afternoon trade New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, gained 50 cents to 89.81 dollars a barrel from 89.31 dollars in late US trades Monday. Brent North Sea crude for January delivery added 44 cents to 90.24 dollars a barrel. Speculation that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps 40 percent of the world's crude, will not raise production was the main factor pushing up prices, traders said. The pressure on OPEC to increase output has eased considerably now that prices have drifted significantly away from the symbolic 100-dollar mark, they said. Since spiking to a historic peak of 99.29 dollars on November 21, prices have fallen almost 10 dollars. "This week the market is focused on one of the sources of uncertainty, OPEC crude supply," French banking giant Societe Generale said. "We believe that OPEC will now leave crude production quotas unchanged unless prices dramatically reverse course in the next two days." OPEC ministers started to arrive Monday in the United Arab Emirates for the key meeting Wednesday that will decide output levels, signalling they were divided over the need to raise output to meet strong global demand. Ali al-Nuaimi, the oil minister of OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, said it was premature to talk about an output increase. "We have not looked at the data yet. (Tuesday) and the day after we will have an opportunity to look at all the data. We will assess and decide," he said. OPEC is concerned that an increase in output could oversupply the market, further damping prices but that leaving quotas unchanged could send prices back up near 100 dollars, analysts said.