OPEC quota cut comes into view as prices fall

VIENNA (AFP) –
OPEC oil ministers decided to maintain their oil output ceiling at a near 25-year high, but attention quickly switched to when the cartel might cut production to stem falling prices.

The cartel has been pumping at near full capacity in a bid to cool the overheated oil market, but prices hit five-month lows of around 65 dollars on Monday, switching attention from the danger of high prices to the risk of an abrupt fall.

“The topic of the day is clearly the determination of a price floor below which OPEC should cut its production,” said analysts at French bank Societe Generale.

OPEC President and Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru said OPEC aimed for a “reasonable” price without specifying what a reasonable level was.

AFP