Oil prices rose slightly on world markets early Tuesday, April 8, rebounding from Monday losses, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced an emergency meeting of its 11-members in the cartel’s Vienna headquarters on April 24. Fearing a possible post-war price collapse, the alarmed OPEC heads signaled that the cartel might take action to protect prices by curbing crude production.
Oil prices tumbled Monday on news of coalition raids into central Baghdad, with US troops seizing two of Saddam Hussein's palaces. While the fate of the Iraqi president and his sons, whose building was reportedly targeted by a US bomb, remained unknown, the prices of oil fell on speculation of a swift end to the war in Iraq.
London Brent crude fell to $23.40 a barrel, hitting a four-month low Monday, while US light crude fell 1.4 percent, to $27.56 a barrel. Prices has already slumped 30 percent in March, from their pre-war peak, as OPEC producers raised output to compensate for anticipated war-related stoppages. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
