Uncertainty ahead of OPEC meeting

CAIRO, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- OPEC's direction at its weekend meeting in Cairo will be muddied by secrecy and ineptitude, an analysis says.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to review production quotas at its meeting in Cairo Saturday, but determining the fate of its latest move to withhold 1.5 million barrels per day from the markets is something complicated by secret dealings and a high degree of shady bureaucracy, the Financial Times reported Friday.

The members of the oil cartel often rely on its rival, the International Energy Agency, to determine the true production levels of OPEC members.

OPEC, therefore, turns to "spies" and corporate insiders to track the movement of oil tankers and general port activity.

Conrad Geber with the tracking firm Petro-Logistics said export terminal data is often the best source to determine production capacity.

"We cannot cross the Saudi desert on a camel to measure the output at the oil wells," he said, "but we can measure supply by the number of tankers leaving the ports because we know their destination and what is inside the tanker."

OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said he may take a wait-and-see approach in determining future considerations on production levels.

"We already cut 1.5 million barrels per day and would like to see what happens to that amount," he said.