OPEC oil ministers were due here Thursday for talks on cutting output by up to 1 million barrels a day to boost prices that have fallen sharply in recent weeks, the Associated Press reported. An OPEC official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to make announcements on behalf of the organization, said there was «a consensus» to cut output by 1 million barrels, but no agreement had been reached «especially on the details of such a cut.» A production cut would be the first by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries since December 2004, when oil traded slightly above US$40 a barrel and the cartel trimmed output by 1 million barrels a day. Oil prices, which topped at US$78.40 in July, rose Thursday as traders awaited the outcome of the meeting, due to get under way in the evening. Light, sweet crude for November delivery was trading at US$57.92 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at midmorning in Singapore. The OPEC gathering is to review the market situation and discuss production quotas, Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said on Sunday. He said the ministers would also will talk about «the possibility of reducing total oil output by 1 million barrels a day to stop any further decline in prices.» The ministers are likely to approve a «temporary» cut without reducing their current quotas, the official United Arab Emirates news agency WAM reported. Last week, OPEC President and Nigeria Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru said the members had agreed to trim global production by 1 million barrels a day and that the emergency meeting would work out how to share the cuts.
