Officials: OPEC to meet in special session Nov. 29

VIENNA — OPEC plans to meet in a special session Nov. 29 to consult on the rapid erosion of the price of crude, officials of the 13-member producer's cartel said Friday.

The officials said the 13-member producers' cartel will convene in Cairo on the sidelines of a previously planned meeting of Arab members of the group just weeks ahead of a previously set Dec. 17 gathering in Oran, Algeria.

OPEC cut output by a daily 1.5 million barrels Oct. 24 in an attempt to stop the price slide but it continues. Oil prices were below $58 on Friday — an approximately 60 percent drop from the highs of this summer.

"The meeting will consider what decisions need to be taken," said Chabib Khelil, OPEC president and Algeria's energy minister. Speaking on Algerian national radio, Khelil said oil output quotas would be an important aspect of the talks — an allusion to production limits that most OPEC members are bound by but often ignore.

Khelil had said last week he favored further oil cuts if the 1.5 million barrel reduction decided by OPEC on Oct. 24 didn't bring prices back to a "reasonable" level, which he assessed at between $70 to $90 per barrel.

Oil prices slipped below $58 a barrel Friday after rising overnight, when traders took their cue from a jump in global stock markets. But the downward drift was tempered by expectations of a further production cutback by OPEC and evidence that U.S. oil demand is more robust than was expected.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery was down 54 cents to $57.72 a barrel by noon in Europe, after rising as high as $59.96 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

An Algerian Energy Ministry official confirmed that the "emergency meeting in Cairo would consider means to prevent a further price slump."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance to Algeria's ministry regulations, could not comment on whether some OPEC members were already considering on a new cut.

___

Associated Press writer Alfred DeMontesquiou contributed to this report from Algiers, Algeria.

Back To Top

	Oil falls to 3-year low below $49 in Asia	Associated Press	Fri Nov 14	0
	Iran wants OPEC to cut 1.5 million barrels	Associated Press	Sat Nov 15	0
	Iran Wants OPEC to Cut Output	The New York Times	Sat Nov 15	0