New York, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. oil prices ended flat after choppy trading on Thursday as market participants awaited updates concerning major producers' next output policy.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery settled at 58.43 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, unchanged from Wednesday's closing level. The U.S. benchmark gained 4.2 percent in the previous session.

Brent crude for February delivery rose 0.39 dollar, or 0.6 percent, to close at 63.39 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Brent jumped 3.6 percent on Wednesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met on Thursday in Vienna, followed by a meeting on Friday with its allies.

Market participants and analysts speculated that the alliance is likely to keep or deepen current output curbs to support oil prices.

In July, OPEC and Russia, together with other non-OPEC members, agreed to extend a production cut of 1.2 million barrels a day for nine months.

Oil prices jumped on Wednesday, fueled by a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories and hopes of deeper OPEC cuts. Enditem

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