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.

The bearish sentiment around oil has grown more feverish in recent days, lopping more than $11 off prices in the previous three trading sessions alone. A barrel of crude hasn't been this cheap in almost 14 months.

The pullback comes as a widening economic slowdown forces a wholesale contraction in U.S. energy demand: Americans are driving less, airlines are keeping more planes on the ground and businesses are ramping down operations.

Highlighting the weak appetite for energy, U.S. filling stations hungry for business ratcheted down prices for a gallon of regular by another 4.4 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.04.