Putting a Pinch in the Pipeline

Faced with falling prices, OPEC may crank back its oil output

One oil minister described last week's hastily arranged gathering as "just a meeting of old friends." But as everyone present knew, the coy assessment by Mani Said al-Oteiba of the United Arab Emirates understated the gravity of the situation. Ministers from six of the 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries huddled for 1½ days last week at Geneva's Inter-Continental Hotel to devise a scheme to halt the slide in oil prices. The cartel's current crisis began two weeks ago, when...

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