Vienna - Oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met Friday in Vienna to discuss cutting oil production in reaction to falling prices and slowing demand. Several of the cartel's 13 members had indicated before the meeting that they were in favour of lowering the group's joint output by at least 1 million barrels per day. One barrel equals 159 litres.
OPEC, which produces around 40 per cent of global oil output, has seen its basket price hover below 70 dollars per barrel since mid- October, down from its July high of 140.73 dollars.
"If the price drops below 70 dollars, the oil industry falls into a crisis," Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah told al-Arabiya TV before the meeting.
Such a low price would endanger investments, he explained.
The basket price dropped by 0.55 dollars Thursday, to 60.27 dollars a barrel.
Analysts said the cartel might have to slash production by more than 1 million barrels per day if it wanted to offset the negative effects that the global financial and economic crises and the strong dollar were having on oil prices.
