OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) energy ministers meeting in Cairo Friday agreed that the cartel fixes its production ceiling at 27 million barrels per day (bpd). Ali bin Ibrahim Alnaimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, led Saudi Arabia's delegation to the meeting. The move is intended to stabilize falling oil prices, which plummeted to below 40 dollars per barrel last week following record highs in October. The group's 11 states are currently reckoned to be producing between one and 1.5 million barrels a day more than their 27 million quota. Oil prices rose slightly on worldwide markets late Thursday and in early trading Friday in anticipation of the announcement, with the price per barrel of OPEC crude up 51 cents to 34.29 dollars, the cartel's secretariat in Vienna said. The ministers said they would meet again on 30 January to discuss a possible quota cut if prices stay high, Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khali said in Cairo. Production from the OPEC nations is currently at a 25-year high due to high demand from the United States and China, as well as supply fears over the Iraqi conflict and unrest in Nigeria's Niger Delta. The ministers endorsed the Secretariat General's 2005 budget and welcomed the European Unions' proposal to start dialogue between OPEC and EU countries for more cooperation between oil producers and consumers.
