OPEC, Oil Market Out of Balance

OPEC ministers could hold an emergency meeting ahead of the next regular conference in December, as the oil market is clearly "out of balance" and prices are falling, a senior OPEC official said yesterday.

"We are watching closely the deterioration in prices, particularly the OPEC basket ... The deterioration in prices has crossed (the line)," OPEC acting secretary general Mohammad Barkindo told reporters Tuesday.  But he declined to specify a price at which the oil-producing cartel would act to trim production to shore-up prices.

Barkindo added that OPEC president and Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru has been given the authority to call for an emergency meeting if required.  "So as we speak now, my colleagues in the (OPEC) secretariat and even here are looking at all the variables which keep on changing ... almost by the day," he said.  "It's up to the president (to summon a meeting) as mandated ... that in the event that the market continues to deteriorate to a level that requires some intervention, he should summon a meeting even before December," Barkindo said.