UPDATE 3-Oil ticks up above $45 ahead of expected OPEC cut

                                
 * OPEC seen cutting up to 2 million barrels a day
                                
 * Russia signals willingness to clinch deal
                                
 * U.S. Fed seen cutting interest rates to near zero

                                
(Updates prices)
                                
 By David Sheppard
                                
 LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $45 on Tuesday,
bolstered by expectations that OPEC will agree on its largest
ever supply cut this week, after prices fell 4 percent the
previous day on worries of a deepening economic slump.
                                
 Oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries meet in Algeria on Wednesday, with many
calling for output cuts of up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd)
to combat shrinking demand that has knocked two-thirds off
prices since July.
                                
  U.S. light crude for January delivery <CLc1> rose 68 cents
to $45.19 a barrel at 1212 GMT after falling as low as $44.10 on
Monday.
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> was up 67 cents at $45.27 at the
same time.
                                
 Oil fell to a four-year low of $40.50 on Dec. 5 -- more than
a $100 slide from its July all-time high above $147 a barrel --
as global economic turmoil depresses demand in large consumer
nations such as the United States and Japan.
                                
 On Monday, China, long a major engine for rising crude
prices, joined ranks with those top consumers. Its apparent oil
demand fell last month for the first time in nearly three years.
[ID:nSP412689]
                                
 "OPEC won't face a bigger decision than this for some time
to come," Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris said. "If they
don't put a floor under prices with a cut of some significance
then it could have huge ramifications for the future of the oil
market."
                                
 Iran's oil minister Gholamhossein Nozari said market
stability could be restored if OPEC decides to cut output by
between 1.5 and 2 million barrels per day, the official IRNA
news agency reported on Tuesday. [ID:nLG618646]
                                
 OPEC has cut output twice since September without arresting
the decline in oil prices that has slashed members' revenues and
raised fears of a future supply crunch as investors pull money
from costly exploration and production projects.
                                
 Russia, the world's top non-OPEC producer, is sending its
highest ranking delegation ever to the meeting -- including
heads of its five top oil companies. [ID:nLF9501]
                                
 The market will also be watching the U.S. Federal Reserve,
which is expected to drop interest rates close to zero on
Tuesday in a bid to stall the slowdown in the world's largest
economy. The announcement is expected around 1915 GMT.
[ID:nN15504845].
                                
 Looking ahead to Wednesday, U.S. crude oil stocks probably
rose by 300,000 barrels last week, a preliminary Reuters poll of
analysts showed ahead of the data's release. [EIA/S]
 (Additional reporting by Annika Breidthardt in Singapore;
Editing by Anthony Barker)