In spite of the tightening of oil supplies with Libyan production still below normal, the prime commodity fell a third straight day on Friday to $80.09 per barrel

Prices of stocks and commodities, including crude oil, took a beating last week, as world economies failed to craft plans for global financial improvement. U.S. political leaders are in a disarray over government policies and actions, Europe still has a long way to go in its massive euro debt crisis and a manufacturing slowdown in China aggravated last week's damaging performance.

While the price of oil is still more than $5 a barrel above a year ago, it is expected to float between $75 and $90 per barrel until at least the skies clear ahead for the global economy.

Libya's oil output is not expected to normalize at least in the next 12 months, according to Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia, in a news briefing at the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank on Thursday.

Earlier reports said the National Transitional Council assured global markets that Libyan oil production will resume in the next few days, but stressed that the average production of 1.6 million barrels per day will still take quite some time.

The NTC is the interim government of rebels who ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

"We will return to production in the very next few days, but exports will take longer," said Mustafa el-Huni, who heads the economy, finance and oil commission at the NTC.

Facilities in the country's eastern and western border areas have reported no damage and continue to produce up to 600,000 barrels of oil per day. But structures in the Libyan center were the ones most damaged and output has tremendously fallen. Impairments include broken instruments which pose a bigger problem in trying to regain full production.

Meanwhile, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said they will slash their oil generation output once Libya's production normalizes.

"Most production comes from the middle of the country and not all of this is damaged," Abdullah al-Badri, secretary general of OPEC, was quoted as saying during the Gulf Intelligence Energy Markets Forum in Dubai. He added that some facilities try to come up 200,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers increased yield during summer to cover up for the halt in Libyan oil production following the uprising.

OPEC's 12 member countries expect Libya to recover its oil generation output to reach one million barrels a day within the next six months.

In August, Saudi Arabia increased its oil output and encouraged other OPEC members to do the same to stabilize oil prices amid the continuing uncertainty in the world's economy.