LONDON, 13 January 2005 — OPEC oil ministers will meet on Jan. 30 as scheduled despite a request from Iraq to move the date of the meeting to avoid a clash with the Iraqi elections, an OPEC spokesman said yesterday. “The meeting will go ahead as scheduled. All the ministers have been consulted and a decision has been reached,” the official said.

Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are expected to consider production cuts at the Jan. 30 meeting to prevent stocks building too fast and pulling down prices.

OPEC last month agreed to cut back 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of excess supply over formal quota limits from Jan. 1 in an effort to stem a slide in world oil prices. However, oil prices dropped yesterday. US crude futures were 53 cents down at $45.15 a barrel while Brent crude in London was 62 cents down at $42.50 a barrel.