OPEC said today it had proposed an emergency meeting of the oil cartel on April 24th to discuss cutting supply to stem a price drop after substantial US military progress in its war against Iraq.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is concerned that oil prices, already down 30 per cent in a month, could continue dropping unless cartel members rein in supplies raised before the war.
"My main worry is how to deal with the dramatic price drop," said OPEC President Abdullah al-Attiyah after talks with cartel Secretary-General Mr Alvaro Silva.
"The market is full of oil, it's facing a glut not a shortage." He said he was waiting for a response from ministers of the 11-strong cartel to confirm emergency talks at OPEC headquarters in Vienna.
The group's next gathering had previously been planned for June 11th in Qatar. "We may have discussions to cut production," Attiyah told reporters in Paris after meeting French government officials.
"I suggested that OPEC meets on April 24th in Vienna but we have to wait for all the ministers to reply. We are going to discuss the oil market situation. We are very concerned to see prices drop dramatically," Mr Attiyah said.
"If we see it becoming more dramatic, we could cut before April 24th, but I suggested April 24th," he said. Brent crude oil prices have dropped 30 percent over the past month from pre-war highs, to $24.45 per barrel today.
"I assume it will drop further. We are on edge," Mr Attiyah said.
An OPEC basket of crudes is priced near the middle of the group's $22-$28 target range. Independent estimates pegged OPEC oil output in March for 10 members with quotas at two million barrels per day (bpd) above its official limit of 24.5 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia accounts for three-quarters of the excess. Iraq, which has no quota, stopped exporting some 1.7 million bpd in mid-March, just before the US invasion on March 20th.