IEA drops oil demand growth forecast

Crude oil prices were mixed on Wednesday as it appeared as if the members nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cannot agree on whether or not to cut production by 1 million barrels a day from the quota cap of 28 million barrels per day or from actual production, which was around 27.5 million barrels per day in September. Some analysts were skeptical that an agreement would be reached. In addition, the International Energy Agency cut its prediction for global demand growth for oil in 2007 by 0.2 million barrels per day to 1.45 million barrels per day. The IEA also said that it was possible that any OPEC production cuts could actually work to push prices lower by freeing up genuine spare production capacity.

Brent crude for November delivery was 10 cents lower to $59.24 per barrel in London, while November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange added a bare 3 cents to $58.55 per barrel.