VIENNA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were divided over oil
output cut on Thursday, one day ahead of an OPEC "extraordinary meeting," to be
held in Vienna to address oil price on Friday.
Iran, Libya and
Venezuela urged the 13-member OPEC to take quick action to cut the output so
as to avoid a steep slide in oil prices.
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Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein
Nozari attends the opening ceremony of the Jeddah Energy Meeting June 22,
2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Speaking to the press, Iranian Oil Minister Gholam
Hossein Nozari said a cut of "two million (barrels per day) will stabilize" the
market.
Libya made the similar call for a reduction of two
million barrels per day, while Venezuela said there should be a cut of at least
one million barrels.
Libya's Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem said "a huge cut"
of "two million barrels" was required to create a balance between supply and
demand.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael D. Ramirez said the
OPEC members "have to take some action now, now," adding that Friday's meeting
will reach "consensus to take a very, very, very fast action."
The price of New York oil dived on Thursday to a new
16-month low in choppy trade.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for
December delivery, sank as low as 65.90 U.S. dollars per barrel, which was last
seen on June 13, 2007.
Just three months ago, the oil price hit record high
of 147.27 U.S. dollars per barrel on July 11, 2008.
However, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi rejected
the call of output cut on Thursday when he arrived in Vienna for the one-day
meeting.
"Who said anything about a cut?" Nuaimi questioned
the reporters.
Speaking to the press on Thursday, OPEC's president
Chekib Khelil, who is also Energy Minister of Algeria, said "we are going to
reduce" oil output.
However, Khelil said he did not know how big a cut
would be made.
OPEC produces 40 percent of the world's oil and its
official output quota stands at 28.8 million barrels per day.
Crude oil tumbles to 16-month low
before OPEC meeting
NEW
YORK, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Crude oil tumbled more than 5 U.S. dollars a barrel to
a 16-month low Wednesday as the falling energy consumption outweighed the
near-certain production cut by OPEC this week.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery slid 5.43 dollars
to settle at 66.75 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
Futures dropped to 66.175 dollars a barrel during the trading, the lowest price
since June 14, 2007. Full story
Iran calls for drastic cut in OPEC
daily output
VIENNA, Oct. 23
(Xinhua) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should
slash daily production by 2 million barrels due to the continuing decline in oil
prices, Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said here Thursday.
A cut of "2 million (barrels per day) will stabilize"
prices in the international oil markets, said Nozari, whose country is an OPEC
member. Full story
Crude oil rebounds as OPEC meeting
nears
NEW YORK, Oct. 23
(Xinhua) -- Crude oil prices rebounded on Thursday as some OPEC members called
for deeper production cut on the emergent meeting tomorrow.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose 1.09 U.S.
dollars to settle at 67.84 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Price hit a 16-month low of near 66 dollars a barrel Wednesday as a
greater-than-expected build up in U.S. fuel stockpiles exacerbated concerns over
slumping demand due to a global economic downturn. Full story
