OPEC might call urgent meeting in February
03 Jan 2009
Following its meeting last December, in which the members agreed to several measures to counter the slide in oil prices, OPEC might call an emergency meeting in February according to a senior Iranian oil official.
He said that the meeting might be held in Kuwait to review the oil market's January performance.
OPEC had agreed to meet again in March, but according Iranian oil minister Gholamhossein Nozari, OPEC would be forced to call an emergency meeting in February to discuss the decline in oil prices.
He added that as yet no decision has been taken whether an emergency meeting should be called. He said that OPEC was tracking movement of oil prices following the cuts agreed to in December.
Nozari also confirmed Iran's committment to comply with agreed cuts and said that all members were committed to the decisions of the organisation.
Some OPEC members have in the past voiced doubts about Iran's compliance with agreed production cuts.
Meanwhile previous OPEC president Chekib Khelili has voiced similar opinions about the probablity of OPEC holding an emergency meeting in February.
According to Khelil, some OPEC ministers meeting, Jan 19 in Kuwait for an Arab economic summit could form a forum that could press for a review meeting, in which case the meeting could happen even earlier than February.
