"We understand the situation with the world economy and we will be supportive," said Kuwaiti Oil Minister Adel al-Subaih on his arrival in Vienna.
He said Kuwait would be comfortable with prices for a basket of OPEC crudes at $22-$25 a barrel -- at the bottom end of the group's long-standing target range of $22-$28.
OPEC has yet to surrender that range, but in one day's trading prices already are lower -- Monday's slump values OPEC crude at about $20 -- and there appears little producers can do about it for now.
Brent now has fallen 20 percent, from $27.45 a barrel prior to the attacks, as dealers adjust to the threat of recession and chances recede of a U.S. military retaliation that would involve the disruption of Middle East oil supplies.
"OPEC's position has weakened significantly, even for trying to defend $22 oil," said Nauman Barakat of ABN Amro bank in New York. "Prices could be heading back toward the long-term norm of $18 for Brent and $20 for U.S. crude."
"We can't possibly announce more output cuts in the current economic and political climate," said one OPEC delegate.
Whether price hawks like Iran and Libya agree with that line remains to be seen -- the price slide will provide as severe a test of OPEC unity as any since crude collapsed in the winter of 1998-1999.
OPEC's latest reduction took effect this month, lopping off a million barrels daily to take limits for 10 OPEC nations with quotas, excluding sanctions-bound Iraq, to 23.2 million bpd.
LEAKAGE
On Wednesday it appears to have little choice but to leave that policy in place and make a ritual call for tighter adherence with existing output quotas.
Further output cuts now, politically difficult, would in any case make little difference. Dealers are unlikely to take them seriously because the group has yet to reduce supply anywhere near its current output target.
With high volumes of spare capacity, member countries have been leaking extra supplies to a market that in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. attacks feared for security of supply.
Estimates by consultants who monitor OPEC supply are that the OPEC 10 is pumping some 1.3-1.4 million bpd in excess of official quotas in September, compared to oversupply of about 900,000 bpd in August.
"They're only about half way to cutting the million in September and of course they were already leaking close to a million in August," said one leading consultant who tracks OPEC exports.
"Only two countries are really complying, Venezuela by design and Indonesia by default."
17:02 09-24-01
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[i] This is a new one. They scare the bejezus out of the US so people stop buying oil products- and now they are loosing billions. And its only been two weeks! Could this be a tool we could use in the future against them?[/i]