OPEC’s Concerns

Four OPEC oil ministers meet in Vienna today, the day after U.S.-led forces began their ground offensive in the Gulf War, to discuss how to stop the conflict from tearing apart their fragile cartel. The four ministers, from the non-Gulf countries of ALGERIA, INDONESIA, NIGERIA and VENEZUELA, fear that the split among Arab nations caused by the war could create a deadlock in any efforts to stop oil prices from tumbling after the fighting ends. Even without exports from Iraq and Kuwait, estimated at 4 million barrels a day before the conflict began, prices are well below the cartel’s target of $21 a barrel. On Friday, West Texas crude, the U.S. benchmark, was at $17.91 a barrel.