Opec representatives have begun emergency talks as pressure mounted for the cartel to curb oil production and reduce oversupply now that the war in Iraq is over.
Several members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, who boosted their production before the war to head off a possible supply shortage, worry they now are pumping too much crude just as seasonal demand is drying up.
Prices have tumbled in recent weeks and Opec fears a further decline if it doesn't rein in production soon.
Before the hastily arranged talks began yesterday in Vienna, Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez said: "It is important to reduce oversupply. We have to have more discipline and it is important to take measures and remove that amount from the market."
If not, Opec, whose 11 members pump a third of the world's crude output, would not be able to maintain its price target of 25 US dollars a barrel, he said.
In the days leading up to hostilities in Iraq, US crude prices peaked at almost 40 dollars a barrel.
Yesterday, contracts of US light, sweet crude for June delivery were trading in New York at 26.71 dollars a barrel.
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