Emergency OPEC meeting expected to debate output cut

Vienna: An emergency OPEC meeting on Friday was expected to cut production by at least a million barrels per day as a first step towards halting a deep price slide.

International benchmark US crude has slumped by more than 50 percent from a record high of $147.27 hit in July. On Friday it was trading around $67 a barrel.

OPEC ministers have said they have to balance their own needs with those of the wider economy and have so far disagreed over the size of any cut.

The core Gulf producers, which have relatively low price requirements and are nervous about further destruction of demand in consumer countries, would prefer a relatively modest cut, delegates have said.

An OPEC delegate told reporters on Friday the group was considering two supply cut options. It could cut by one million barrels per day (bpd) now and review the situation at its next planned meeting in December.

Alternatively, it could cut 1.5 million bpd immediately, the delegate said.

On arriving in Vienna, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi said on Thursday that the oil price would be determined by the market. He would not be drawn on the need for any cut.

Saudi-owned newspaper Al Hayat quoted an OPEC source as saying OPEC was expected to cut output by around a million bpd.