OPEC looks on calmly as oil price falls

DUBAI (Reuters) – OPEC has held its nerve while oil prices have dropped nearly 20 percent in a month and the producer group is expected to let the market slide further before taking any action to cut output.

Oil traded at below $120 a barrel on Friday, down from a July peak of $147.27 as soaring fuel prices and an ailing economy have cut consumption in the world’s largest energy consumer the United States.


Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), source of more than a third of the world’s oil, have shown scant concern.

“At the moment, and at this level, there is no movement within OPEC to do anything,” an OPEC source told Reuters this week. “I don’t think ministers will change output. I think at less than $80 for OPEC oil, maybe they would do something.”

OPEC has been reluctant to disclose a target oil price, but even members of the group who have traditionally favoured higher prices have said they would be comfortable with a market below current levels.

Reuters