MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

OPEC extraordinary meeting Thursday in Doha

World oil prices climbed on Monday in anticipation of the extraordinary meeting of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) in Qatar next Thursday when the cartel is expected to clarify details of the announced production cut.

Both in New York and London the light sweet crude and the Brent North Sea for delivery in November, kept below the 60 US dollars per barrel in Monday's trading.

On Sunday Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said that an OPEC extraordinary meeting will be held in Doha on Thursday to discuss a cut in production to check the fall in the price of crude oil.

The official QNA news agency release said OPEC oil ministers would discuss "details of a reduction of one million barrels per day (bpd) in the cartel's effective production in an effort to check the fall in prices" on the international market.

Last week markets ended with crude plunging over 25% from its record high of 78.40 US bpd of mid July. Current OPEC output is fixed at 28 million bpd, not including Iraq, which is excluded from the quota system. The cartel members are currently producing less crude oil than authorized under their quotas, with real output estimated at between 27.5 and 27.8 million bpd.

A one-million bpd fall in output to 27 million bpd would in reality mean a reduction of some half a million bpd, which some member states consider to be insufficient. Venezuela and Nigeria have already announced they would be cutting production by 50.000 and 120.000 bpd, beginning October first. Apparently OPEC members are divided whether the reduction should be calculated taking as reference the cap on total production or real production.

OPEC meanwhile said it was revising its world oil demand growth forecast for 2006 down by 100.000 barrels to one million barrels per day, in its monthly report released Monday in Vienna.

"In light of preliminary data for the first three quarters of 2006, world oil demand growth was revised down by 0.1 mb/d (million barrels per day) for 2006" from the last monthly report, the cartel said. OPEC admits that the velocity and magnitude of the drop in oil prices "took markets by surprise".

Uncertainties over the world's economy prospects, particularly United States, the slowing of demand, the increase in supply from non-OPEC members and the high level of reserves contributed to create "a clear feeling of prudence in the market".

However for 2007 OPEC maintains its estimate of an increase in daily oil demand of 1.3 million bpd, 1.5% over 2006.