Opec meets as Iran tensions lessen
Afp, Caracas
The Opec cartel looked set at talks Thursday to keep pumping crude at 25-year-high levels, recognising that any cut now would drive oil prices to new highs and risk choking off world growth. Ministers of the 11-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries were to meet in the Venezuelan capital a day after the United States issued a historic offer to hold direct talks with Iran over Tehran's nuclear plans. The offer took the sting out of oil prices, with markets already reassured about Opec's intentions to keep output levels steady. The US offer to join its European allies in negotiating with Iran was conditioned on the Islamic republic suspending all uranium enrichment. It would be the most substantive contact between the arch-foes in 26 years. The oil market has been convulsed for weeks by the threat of UN sanctions against Iran, which after Saudi Arabia is the second-biggest oil exporter in Opec.
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