LONDON, Nov 28: Oil prices fell on Friday as key ministers from the Opec producers’ group meeting in Cairo suggested the cartel would wait until next month before announcing any decision to cut output.

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries ministers are holding consultations in the Egyptian capital on Saturday amid speculation they might further reduce production to stem the slide in crude prices.

“Here we will prepare some data and maybe the final decision will be in Algeria,” Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari told reporters, referring to a planned extraordinary

Opec meeting in Algeria on December 17.

Light sweet crude for delivery in January was down $1.86 to $52.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for January dropped 78 cents to $52.35 in late morning trade.

“If production cuts are not announced this weekend, this could further add to the downward pressure on oil prices,” Barclays Capital analyst David Woo said on Friday in London.—AFP