OPEC ministers meet in Cairo

OPEC ministers for the first time meet in Cairo for talks on the possibility of decreasing the output by 1.5 million barrels per day in addition to the quantities to be also cut by some non-OPEC suppliers like Norway and Mexico.

Chief of the current session Chekeeb Khalil said that meeting will be important for reaching a unanimous decision.

Oil prices stayed strong yesterday after a sharp rally the day before made on the expectation OPEC is poised to cut its output further.

But the rally retreated from the peak as traders waited for the final outcome of the emergency OPEC meeting in Cairo today and looked ahead to assess the cartel members' commitment to keeping to lower production quotas.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to the cut at its last meeting in November but made the amount 462,500 bpd, just short of the cartel's target.

This will be the fourth round of curbs implemented by OPEC this year. OPEC, which controls nearly two-thirds of world exports, has already cut supply by 3.5 million barrels a day in 2001.

The latest proposed cut will put the cartel's production at its lowest level for a decade.

Independent producers Russia and Norway promised to slice 150,000 bpd each, while Mexico pledged to cut 100,000 bpd, Oman 40,000 bpd and Angola 22,500 bpd.