OPEC ends Cairo meeting without new output cuts

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
OPEC ended a hastily convened meeting in Cairo Saturday without announcing new output cuts, despite the steep drop in crude prices and the threat it poses to member governments' national budgets. The oil producing group's president, Chakib Khelil, said OPEC is concerned about the weakening world economy and its impact on oil prices. The group, however, will likely wait until a meeting in Algeria on December 17 to decide whether to cut additional crude supplies from the market. Khelil said oil ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries "agreed to take any additional action on 17th of December to balance oil supply and demand and achieve market stability." His comments came after the group convened what it called a consultative meeting in Cairo to take stock of market situations and to asses whether members were complying with a 1.5 million barrel per day output cut announced October 24 in Vienna, Austria. Khelil said preliminary market data indicated members were complying with the earlier cuts.