The latest fall in price will no doubt give OPEC ministers, who are meeting in Japan this week, something to think about, however analysts believe it is unlikely the oil cartel will review production quotas.
At its last meeting in June, the OPEC council reviewed the oil market situation as well as supply/demand prospects for the second half of the year and decided to maintain the agreed production levels until the end of September.
According to the Middle East Economic Survey, OPEC members produced 2.06 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) over quota agreements in August. Production by the 10 member states, minus Iraq, rose by 240,000 bopd last month to 23.76 million bopd, the industry newsletter said.
Total OPEC production, including Iraq, fell 90,000 bopd to 25.26 million bopd from 25.35 million bopd in July because of declines in output from Iraq and Iran, which outweighed a sharp increase from Venezuela and small rises in five other states.
