DUBAI, Dec 14 (AFP) - Qatar's Energy Minister Abdallah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said Tuesday that OPEC could decide on a further cut in production at its next meeting at the end of January, depending on the market situation.
"If we need to cut, we will cut, but it's very early to decide how much. It depends on what will happen in the market. Maybe we'll cut one million, maybe 30O,000 or maybe nothing," he said on the sidelines of a meeting in Dubai.
OPEC left unchanged its output quota of 27 million barrels per day at a meeting in Cairo last week, but agreed to scale back surplus production by one million bpd after pumping close to capacity for months.
The cartel, of which Qatar is a member, had initially allowed the over-production to help bring down oil prices as supply shortage fears propelled them to record highs above 55 dollars a barrel in October.
Currently, oil prices are trading at just above 40 dollars.
The 11-member OPEC is due to meet again in Vienna on January 30.
12/14/2004 12:04 GMT - AFP