OPEC meets in special session Nov. 29

OPEC will hold a special session on Nov. 29 to discuss the rapid erosion of the price of crude oil, an official said on Friday.

The 13-member producers cartel will convene in Cairo on the sidelines of a previously planned meeting of the group's Arab members, said the official, who asked not to be named because the Vienna-based organization is not issuing a formal statement.

The meeting comes just weeks ahead of the organization's next official meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 17 in Oran, Algeria.

"The meeting will consider what decisions need to be taken," said Chabib Khelil, OPEC president and Algeria's energy minister.

Khelil said oil output quotas would be an important topic of discussion but would not confirm if a new cut is already being considered.

He said last week he favoured further oil cuts if October's barrel reduction bring prices back to a "reasonable" level, which he assessed at $70 to $90 per barrel.

OPEC cut output by a daily 1.5 million barrels on Oct. 24 in an attempt to stop the price slide, and said more production cuts were possible were prices to continue falling.

Oil under $57 a barrel

Crude prices have fallen 60 per cent since July, when they hit a high of $147.27. Oil for December delivery was down $1.37 US at $56.87 US a barrel on Friday.

Benchmark crude prices are suggesting that demand for energy is falling amid the global slowdown, analysts have said.

Some analysts have suggested that with the financial crisis and the growing number of countries falling into recessions, OPEC may have lost much of its ability to control the price of oil through production cuts.

"Oil is just following the equity market," said Gerard Rigby, an energy analyst with Fuel First Consulting in Sydney. "If the stock market improves, oil will go up on perceived improved demand."

OPEC will likely do all it can to keep the price of oil from going below $50 a barrel, Rigby said. "I think OPEC would do something. Another OPEC cut would get the market's attention."

With files from the Associated Press and Reuters