New York ? Oil prices recovered some ground Friday, rallying above $71 a barrel on speculation that OPEC could slash output in an effort to stop crude’s downward spiral. But pump prices kept falling and appeared poised to drop below $3 a gallon nationally – a level not seen in eight months.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery rose $2 to settle at $71.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising as high as $74.30. On Thursday, prices lost $4.69 to settle at $69.85 a barrel.

Despite Friday’s modest rally, oil is still down $75 – or 51 percent – since catapulting to a record high of $147.27 on July 11.