Oil prices firmly below $80 a barrel are rattling nerves within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and calls are mounting for concrete action at the group's crucial next meeting this month.
Over the weekend oil-producing countries Kuwait and Iran raised concerns about oil's worrying lows and what OPEC should be doing to help protect its members' economies.
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Kuwait's cabinet and the country's Supreme Petroleum Council held an "extraordinary" joint meeting Sunday to consider measures to stop the slide in prices.
According the official KUNA news agency, the meeting "discussed the steps that have to be taken on all levels…including having consultations with fellow OPEC member states for maintaining interests of all parties".
This comes as a surprise considering the country's earlier statements of confidence in a rebound of prices and that there was no reason to panic Only last week Kuwait's oil minister stressed that he did not believe there would be a reduction in output by OPEC when its 12 members gather in November 27 in Vienna.
Also Sunday Iran's oil minister criticized countries of trying to justify keeping oil production at the current level – which were set before countries such as Iran were allowed to return to selling oil in the global marketplace.
Iran is already tapping its sovereign wealth fund to mitigate the impact of the oil price slump.
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