ORAN, Algeria, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened the 151st extraordinary ministerial meeting here Wednesday in expectation of an output cut decision to shore up the plunging oil prices.

Ministers from the 13-member oil cartel gathered in northwestern Algerian coastal city of Oran, exploring an agreement to address the slide of oil prices, which have shrunk more than two thirds from record mid-July highs above 147 U.S. dollars in the face of a global economic downturn.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and representatives from non-OPEC countries of Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan and Syria also attend the one-day event.

Bouteflika said OPEC faces the challenge of stabilizing the oil market. He called for the cohesion among all OPEC members to stabilize the oil prices so as to reduce the impact of the global financial crises on the oil exporting countries.

"The actual oil prices have already caused the slide of our revenues and a slowdown of the world economic activities which have a direct impact on the growth of the oil demand," he said.

"This is why I support OPEC's decision made in October to reduce the production to stabilize the market," he added.

During the past four months, the cartel had made two coordinated cuts to shore up the plunging prices. A modest cut of 520,000 bpd was made on Sept.10 and then a 1.5-million one was announced on Oct. 24 in its Vienna meeting.

However, the two decisions both failed to revive the falling prices. Later at its consultative meeting in Cairo on Nov. 29, OPEC decided to keep the current crude oil output until its meeting in Algeria.

After hitting 40.50 dollars a barrel on Dec. 5, the lowest in four years, the crude continued to be traded at lows so far this month, sparking panic among the cartel's members about their slumping revenues.

Many analysts expect a production cut of as much as 2 million barrels a day this time so as to buttress the prices and stabilize the oil market.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said before the meeting that members of the OPEC have reached consensus on cutting the oil production by 2 million barrels per day, the official Algerian Press Service (APS) reported.

Meanwhile, the oil bloc has appealed for help to reduce output from non-OPEC members. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that his country was ready to join hands with OPEC to stem the plunging prices and could even become part of the oil cartel if membership were in Moscow's interests.

Prior to the Wednesday meeting, OPEC members also held a preparatory meeting on Tuesday, with all parties narrowing their differences on the level of output quotas to be slashed.

OPEC comprises Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, but Indonesia has suspended membership and officially leaves the cartel at the end of 2008.
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