The price of OPEC's reference basket of crude oil fell below 28 dollars again Thursday, two days after an OPEC pledge to increase production if prices remained high, an official said.
The basket price, calculated as an average of oil prices from the previous day, fell to 27.72 dollars, compared to Wednesday's figure of 28.09 dollars, said the official at OPEC's Vienna headquarters, who declined to be named.
On Monday, OPEC President Ali Rodriguez said he had asked member states to prepare for a 500,000 barrel-a-day increase by the end of this month if prices, which have exceeded 30 dollars a day in recent weeks, did not fall.
On Tuesday, the price fell to 27.46 dollars, before bouncing back above the key 28-dollar-level on Wednesday.
An OPEC source told AFP said that there was an understanding that the output increase would be implemented if the OPEC basket price remained above 28 dollars for 20 consecutive days - VIENNA (AFP)
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