Falling oil prices might bring new production cuts

Further declines in oil prices have caused speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could call for further production cuts in an attempt to hold prices in the mid-$50 per barrel range. Still, at the present time there is no emergency meeting scheduled despite concerns, according to OPEC’s president. The oil cartel is slated to meet again in March, while a second previously-mandated production cut of 500,000 barrels per day is to go into effect on 1 February.

Amid active trading, Brent crude for February delivery dropped $1.75 to $51.94 per barrel by the end of the session after going as low as $51.87 per barrel earlier in the day. Brent is now down nearly 15 percent since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile West Texas Intermediate crude February contracts was down $1.91 by early afternoon on the New York mercantile exchange to $52.11 per barrel.