OPEC prepared to ratify an agreement that leaves oil supply limits unchanged, delaying until November any fresh effort to lift crude prices out of a slump.
Even traditional price hawks among Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries nations have been forced to revise lower their sights on oil prices under the threat of an imminent global recession.
'Now I am comfortable with $22 because the OPEC basket price is about $20 and $22 is better than $20 for us,' said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh.
Boxed in by political constraints in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the US, ministers have watched helpless this week as oil collapsed out of their favoured $22-$28 range. They agreed yesterday to keep production at 23.2 million barrels a day for 10 member countries and kept their official price target range intact.
'Kuwait's stand is that we would be comfortable with a price of around $22 at this time,' said Kuwait's Oil Minister Adel al-Subaih.
Producers will be hoping that oil markets, stung by an economic downturn that is sapping petroleum demand, have bottomed after a 20 percent fall in just two weeks.
But they face a grim outlook as industry, business and consumers cut back on consumption of petroleum products like jet fuel, gasoline and diesel.
'In 2002, the oil demand outlook is the worst in 20 years - the first year of no demand growth since 1983,' said Peter Nicol of ABN Amro bank.
