TIMELINE - Half a century of oil price volatility

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC meets in Cairo on November 29 in an attempt to stem a collapse in oil that has knocked two thirds off the price in just four months.

Oil ministers face an uphill task trying to tame a commodity that has seen a roller-coaster ride from about $2 a barrel in the 1960s to a peak above $147 in July to a low of almost $50 this month.

Suppliers of about 40 percent of the world's oil, the 12 members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet regularly to discuss the market and sometimes adjust supplies by a few million barrels per day (bpd).

Following is a chronology of major events in the oil market since OPEC was founded almost 50 years ago:

2008 - On the first trading day of 2008, U.S. crude breaks the $100 barrier for the first time. Prices rise fairly steadily through the first half of the year and peak on July 11 at $147.50 for Brent and $147.27 for U.S. crude.

Oil's peak coincides with the acknowledgement by Western leaders of the true gravity of the economic crisis sweeping the world in the wake of the collapse of the U.S. home loans market.

On July 15, a sell-off begins after remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicating a significant fall in demand in the United States, the world's top consumer. By the middle of September, prices are below $100 and still falling.

2007 - Prices slip back in early 2007 but power up to over $90 in October 2007, spurred by a combination of tension on the Iraq-Turkish border and the fall in the value of the dollar, in which oil is priced for most major consumers.

2005 - Oil prices rise above $68 in August 2005 as Hurricane Katrina hits refining facilities in the U.S. Gulf coast.