Opec will seek others' support as prices fall

Tehran: Opec will have talks with non-member oil producers on cooperating to manage the oil market when the exporter group meets in Cairo this month, Irna news agency quoted Iran's oil minister as saying on Tuesday.

Opec ministers will gather in the Egyptian capital on November 29 to discuss falling oil prices, which slipped below $55 (Dh202) a barrel on Tuesday, from a record high of $147.27 hit in July.

It has yet to be confirmed if the meeting will be turned into a full-scale session of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. But an Opec source said the group could still decide to cut output in Cairo.

"One of the decisions of the consultation meeting of Opec in Cairo will be to start negotiations with non-Opec producers in order to secure their co-operation with Opec in managing the oil market," Gulam Hussain Nozari was quoted as saying.

"Increased interaction between non-Opec producers and Opec producers, under the current oil market conditions, is very important," the minister said.

Output decision

The Opec source said the group could decide to cut supply while in Cairo, which comes before another Opec meeting scheduled for December 17 in Algeria.

"The ministers could still make a decision on output or decide to turn the meeting into something else," the source said, referring to the Cairo talks.

The 12 Opec members produce about 40 per cent of the world's oil.

They agreed in October to cut supply by 1.5 million bpd starting November 1 but the deal has yet to stem sliding oil prices.