OPEC oil ministers arrive in Vienna for Thur. meeting

VIENNA, Dec 4 (KUNA) -- Oil ministers of member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) began arriving Wednesday in Vienna for their 177th ministerial meeting due tomorrow.
The ministers will discuss for two days the possibility of extending the agreement among OPEC and Non-OPEC producers to reduce production by 1.2 million barrels per day to the second half of next year.
The recent fluctuations of oil prices are expected to overshadow the ministerial meeting, especially after prices have recently fallen below USD 70 a barrel.
The Vienna meeting on December 5-6 comes at a delicate time due to growing tension between the United States and Iran over the continued oil embargo on Iran and Tehran increase of uranium enrichment levels in its nuclear reactors.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Khaled Al-Fahdel will take part in two ministerial meetings in Vienna.
In both meetings, they participants will tackle means of maintain the stability of the international oil market, and reviewing the decisions of decreasing the production and its effect on the mark. (end) amg.ibi