The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will keep its oil output near a 25-year high despite a 16 per cent drop in the crude price since mid-July, ministers said yesterday, but the group left the door open to a supply cut before the end of the year.
Ministers saw no reason to tamper with the 28 million barrels per day ceiling just yet, with peak winter demand closing in and supply worries ever present. But some were concerned at the pace of oil's decline in recent weeks.
Opec authorised its president, Nigeria's oil minister Edmund Daukoru, to call for an extraordinary meeting before the next scheduled gathering in December if needed.
"There is no need to cut now but if there is a deterioration in the global economy and prices fall quickly, then we will need a meeting before December," Algerian energy and mining minister Chakib Khelil said yesterday.
Opec last cut production in April 2004. For a year, Opec has been pumping close to its fastest rate for 25 years to guard against price shocks and ease pressure on consumer economies. Prices have sunk from a record $78.40 a barrel on July 14th to a five-month low below $66 at one point yesterday.
The group, supplier of onethird of the world's oil, has been at pains to avoid naming a price it would defend.
- (Reuters)
