OPEC Executive Council Meets
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TAIF, Saudi Arabia — OPEC’s executive council met Sunday behind closed doors, reportedly to discuss a possible price cut for heavy crude oil and ways to uphold the cartel’s pricing and quota systems.
Five members of the 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are represented on the executive council--Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. But Mexico, which is not a member of the cartel, and four other OPEC nations, Ecuador, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait, sent observers.
No agenda was announced, but Saudi sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified, noted that there have been reports that some OPEC members have exceeded their production quotas and that a price reduction for heavy crude was imminent.
Oil prices have been declining since spring, reflecting weak demand and also increased production by non-OPEC members. Recent press reports indicate that both Britain and Norway, which do not belong to the cartel, are contemplating further price cuts in their North Sea crude, which competes with Nigeria’s light oil.
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