http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24521556-462,00.htm...

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24521556-462,00.html

MOTORISTS are staring down the barrel of higher petrol prices after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pledged to dramatically cut oil production.
OPEC will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna next week to address plummeting oil prices but, according to chief Chakib Khelil, a substantial cut to oil output has already been decided.

"There will be a reduction in production at the next extraordinary meeting of OPEC, and it will have to be a substantial one to get the balance right between supply and demand," Mr Khelil said yesterday.

"If it has to be 1.5 million barrels per day, or two million barrels per day, that's what it will be," he added during a visit to the southern Algerian province of Tamanrasset.

Global crude oil prices have plummeted from a high of $US147 a barrel to $US71 a barrel in the space of three months.

Because of the countering fall in the value of the Aussie dollar, however, relief to Australian motorists has not been forthcoming.

With the dollar expected to remain at its present level in the short term, a rally in oil prices stemming from a cut in production may push prices at the pumps as high as $1.80 a litre.