opec rush fwd meeting date, page-8

Financial Times: Opec brings forward crunch meeting
“Opec on Thursday brought forward to next week an emergency meeting to consider a cut in production after oil prices dropped to less than $70 a barrel for the first time in more than a year on worries about a global recession.

“The move coincided with fresh calls from those countries within the oil producing cartel that are heavily dependent on oil revenues for their budgets – most notably Iran, the organisation’s perennial hawk – to cut output. Ecuador and Qatar also supported slashing production.

“Even Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s most powerful member, which initially opposed the 500,000 barrel a day cut announced last month and is close to the US, appears to be in agreement that the group needs to reduce its production.

“Opec had said that it would need to pump about 31.3 million barrels a day in the first quarter of next year to balance the market, well below its current output of 32.2 million b/d, suggesting that the cartel sees a need to cut output by almost 1million b/d.”

Source: Javier Blas and Carola Hoyos, Financial Times, October 16, 2008