LAGOS/DUBAI - OPEC may need to cut oil output to bolster prices, oil ministers said Wednesday as the exporter group discussed holding an emergency meeting to discuss the impact of the financial crisis.
The group plans to meet on November 18 in Vienna, Algerian state news agency APS reported, quoting an unnamed source.
Libya's top oil official told Reuters a meeting on that date was under consideration, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday the group was calling for an early meeting.
"Rafael Ramirez told me last night that (OPEC) is calling for an extraordinary meeting," Chavez said during a televised broadcast, referring to the nation's energy minister.
Nigeria, Qatar and Iraq, all members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, earlier Wednesday floated the idea of a cut in the group's oil output.
"There may be a need to intervene to balance the market, if the price slide seemingly predicted on demand and over-supply continues," Nigerian Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia told Reuters.
Oil, which hit a record high of $147.27 a barrel in July, fell to a 10-month low near $86 on Wednesday on expectations weaker economic growth will slow oil demand. While the falling price has been a relief for consumer countries, OPEC members rely on oil revenues.
The group's 13 members pump about 40 percent of the oil produced globally. Small producer Qatar said OPEC will cut supply if the financial crisis slows demand, but it was too early to say how much consumption would be affected.
"If the market needs a cut, we will cut," Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told Reuters.
"We will supply what the market needs. With the slowing economy, maybe we will see a fall in demand, but it's not clear yet."
But Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer and the country which would be expected to lead any further supply cut, has yet to comment publicly on the oil market.
Oil rose briefly Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve led a global round of interest rate cuts to bolster the world economy. But data later in the day showing a big rise in U.S. crude stocks sent prices back down.
CONSIDER TAKING ACTION
On a visit to Turkey, Iraq's oil minister said OPEC may need to consider cutting output if the price of crude remains below $90.
"If there are any future declines below $90, we will need to consider taking action, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the Turkish coastal city Antalya.
OPEC's second-largest producer, Iran, voiced concern on Tuesday about the impact on oil demand of the credit crisis, and Libya raised the prospect of OPEC meeting before its next scheduled conference on December 17 in Algeria.
"For oil-producing countries, not only are prices going down, but also their money in the banks, their investments, are threatened by this financial crisis," Libya's top OPEC official, Shokri Ghanem, told Reuters.
OPEC was pumping far above its official production limit earlier this year as oil prices surged, largely because of a unilateral supply increase from Saudi Arabia.
An output reduction agreed by OPEC at its last meeting, on September 9-10 in Vienna, has so far failed to stem the price fall.
It decided to comply strictly with its formal output target, a move OPEC said meant the group would cut supply by about 500,000 barrels per day, about 1.5 percent of its production in August.
An OPEC source suggested the group was unlikely to cut output in December unless the price of crude produced by its members fell below $80. OPEC's reference crude oil basket price, comprising 13 crudes from member countries, stood just above that threshold at $80.04 Tuesday.
"The price is still reasonable," the source told Reuters. "If it stays where it is then OPEC will stick to the output levels decided at the last meeting. I think if it falls below $80, OPEC will do more."
The group plans to meet on November 18 in Vienna, Algerian state news agency APS reported, quoting an unnamed source.
Libya's top oil official told Reuters a meeting on that date was under consideration, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday the group was calling for an early meeting.
"Rafael Ramirez told me last night that (OPEC) is calling for an extraordinary meeting," Chavez said during a televised broadcast, referring to the nation's energy minister.
Nigeria, Qatar and Iraq, all members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, earlier Wednesday floated the idea of a cut in the group's oil output.
"There may be a need to intervene to balance the market, if the price slide seemingly predicted on demand and over-supply continues," Nigerian Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia told Reuters.
Oil, which hit a record high of $147.27 a barrel in July, fell to a 10-month low near $86 on Wednesday on expectations weaker economic growth will slow oil demand. While the falling price has been a relief for consumer countries, OPEC members rely on oil revenues.
The group's 13 members pump about 40 percent of the oil produced globally. Small producer Qatar said OPEC will cut supply if the financial crisis slows demand, but it was too early to say how much consumption would be affected.
"If the market needs a cut, we will cut," Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told Reuters.
"We will supply what the market needs. With the slowing economy, maybe we will see a fall in demand, but it's not clear yet."
But Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer and the country which would be expected to lead any further supply cut, has yet to comment publicly on the oil market.
Oil rose briefly Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve led a global round of interest rate cuts to bolster the world economy. But data later in the day showing a big rise in U.S. crude stocks sent prices back down.
CONSIDER TAKING ACTION
On a visit to Turkey, Iraq's oil minister said OPEC may need to consider cutting output if the price of crude remains below $90.
"If there are any future declines below $90, we will need to consider taking action, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the Turkish coastal city Antalya.
OPEC's second-largest producer, Iran, voiced concern on Tuesday about the impact on oil demand of the credit crisis, and Libya raised the prospect of OPEC meeting before its next scheduled conference on December 17 in Algeria.
"For oil-producing countries, not only are prices going down, but also their money in the banks, their investments, are threatened by this financial crisis," Libya's top OPEC official, Shokri Ghanem, told Reuters.
OPEC was pumping far above its official production limit earlier this year as oil prices surged, largely because of a unilateral supply increase from Saudi Arabia.
An output reduction agreed by OPEC at its last meeting, on September 9-10 in Vienna, has so far failed to stem the price fall.
It decided to comply strictly with its formal output target, a move OPEC said meant the group would cut supply by about 500,000 barrels per day, about 1.5 percent of its production in August.
An OPEC source suggested the group was unlikely to cut output in December unless the price of crude produced by its members fell below $80. OPEC's reference crude oil basket price, comprising 13 crudes from member countries, stood just above that threshold at $80.04 Tuesday.
"The price is still reasonable," the source told Reuters. "If it stays where it is then OPEC will stick to the output levels decided at the last meeting. I think if it falls below $80, OPEC will do more."
