By Alex Lawler and Amanda Cooper
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil clawed back some ground on Wednesday, a day after posting its third-biggest daily fall since the financial crisis, on talk major producers might tackle a glut that has sent prices to 12-year lows.
Iran's oil minister said Tehran was ready to negotiate with Saudi Arabia and Kremlin oil tsar Igor Sechin proposed producing countries cut output by 1 million barrels per day - without saying whether non-OPEC member Russia would do so.
While traders and delegates from OPEC doubt any deal between the group and rival producers - which would be the first in over a decade - will happen, talk of it boosted the market.
"If prices drop further, the chance for joint action increases and this in turn should prevent a further sharp drop in prices," said Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank. "Today's gain is just a bounce back after yesterday's sharp sell-off."
Brent crude was up 42 cents at $30.84 a barrel by 1502 GMT. The price fell for a fourth straight session on Tuesday to end down 7.8 percent, marking its third-largest one-day decline since the depths of the U.S. subprime lending crisis in 2008. U.S. crude fell 17 cents to $27.77.
Oil collapsed from above $100 in June 2014 to a 12-year low of $27.10 last month, pressured by oversupply and OPEC's decision to focus on market share, not support prices.
Turmoil in financial markets, in which shares of the world's biggest banks fell steeply this week, is partially caused by the low oil price, the head of BP said on Wednesday.
"Of course the turmoil is a big concern," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley told Reuters. "I've been travelling recently to major consuming countries like Japan and even they say they would like higher oil prices."
Oil also gained support from a report showing a smaller buildup in U.S. crude inventories than forecast.
OPEC pointed to a larger oil supply surplus on the world market this year than previously thought as Saudi Arabia and other members pump more oil, making up for losses in non-member producers hurt by the collapse in prices.
(Additional reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Adrian Croft and Alexander Smith)
