OPEC to cut production, oil prices drop
October 2008
News
Soundings Trade Only
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies yesterday announced plans to cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day, beginning Nov. 1. OPEC says it is trying to stem the "dramatic collapse, unprecedented in speed and magnitude," of oil prices, according to a press release issued today by OPEC.
The announcement had the opposite effect, however, as oil futures fell about 7 percent today to $63 a barrel. Crude oil prices peaked in July at $147 a barrel, the New York Times reports.
OPEC will revisit the issue - and the possibility of another output reduction - at a conference scheduled for Dec. 17 in Algeria.