/IRBIS, Oct 8, 01/ - AK&M informs, with the reference to the Financial Times, that OPEC may consider the matter on possible reduction of oil production and exports quota by the member countries of the cartel.

General secretary of OPEC, Ali Rodriguez had telephone conversations with the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Algeria, where they have discussed the reduction of oil production and exports quota. OPEC is worried about more than 20% decline in oil prices in several weeks and they consider that the actions against Afghanistan will not lead to a price hike. It is said that after the beginning of military actions no principal changes took place on the market, which may imply that OPEC may cut quotas by 500 th. barrels a day.

While the price corridor was set by OPEC at $22 - $28 per barrel, for the last 1.5 weeks the oil price remains below $22 per barrel, which means that OPEC should cut the quotas to make the prices to be within that range, therefore OPEC may not wait for the beginning of the November meeting and cut the quotas in this or next week.