OPEC Might Increase Output at Meeting Today
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Under pressure from importing nations, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries begins a two-day meeting today that could increase output just as fuel demand starts to buckle under the weight of high prices.
Crude has fallen from a record $70.85 a barrel in the three weeks since Katrina tore into U.S. gulf refineries, losing $1.75 on Friday to close at $63.
“For OPEC the price is still very high,” OPEC President Sheik Ahmad al-Sabah told reporters in Vienna.
Ministers will consider a proposal by Sheik Ahmad to add 500,000 barrels a day, or 2%, to existing limits of 28 million barrels. Iraq, with no quota, pumps an additional 2 million barrels.
But OPEC is warning that any cartel agreement may not actually deliver more crude because global refining is already stretched to full capacity.
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Today
* OPEC oil ministers open a two-day meeting in Vienna.
* Sentencing of former Tyco Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski and former Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz.
Tuesday
* Federal Reserve policymaking panel meets to set interest rates.
* The Commerce Department releases August new-housing permits.
Thursday
* The Conference Board releases its index of leading economic indicators for August.
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