Crude prices have fallen more than US$30 since their peak near US$150 per barrel earlier this year on worries that a slowdown in the U.S. economy could reduce global energy demand.

“If there is a continued decline in the price we should evaluate a production cut — that is (the idea) we will take to the meeting,” Ramirez said at dawn on Tuesday at the takeover of a nationalized cement plant.

“What we cannot permit is a collapse in the price of oil.”

He said OPEC should avoid allowing undue increases in oil inventory levels. He said these levels are currently “good.”

U.S. oil was trading at around US$112.50 on Tuesday, down from its peak above US$147 per barrel in mid July.

“In OPEC we always insisted that (the quick price movement) was fundamentally a product of speculation, and these abrupt changes in price show that we were right,” Ramirez said.

“Those speculators are betting that prices will continue to fluctuate, but producers cannot violate the fundamentals of the market,” he said. “We believe there is no need to increase production.”

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