The steep drop in oil prices over the last week caused the leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to call an emergency meeting in Vienna on Nov. 18, reportedly to discuss the possibility of production cuts.

Some OPEC member nations, however, are refusing to cut their oil production to stabilize prices, particularly Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer.

"Saudi Arabia has not joined the OPEC price hawks, led by Venezuela and Iran, in calling for another supply cut, and we think we could be witnessing the beginning of the end for the organization," said Neil McMahon, a London-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein and Co.

Since oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels in more than a year and more than 47 percent since reaching record highs in July, OPEC President and Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil and Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corp., have said OPEC member nations should cut their production to stabilize prices.

Iran also falls into the same group, with Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari saying good decisions will come from the meeting in November.

Saudi Arabia has once before gone against the will of the rest of OPEC when earlier in the summer it increased its oil production at the wishes of leaders from the United States and Europe.

As the cartel's largest producer, analysts believe Saudi Arabia is the country holding OPEC together, and if it were to pull out the group might likely fall apart.

Kazakhstan seeks share in Caspian Sea

Officials from BG Group and KazMunaiGas are reportedly in the middle of discussing shares of the Karachaganak oil field, an offshore field located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, the Financial Times reported.

Many of the fields in the Caspian are owned and operated by foreign companies. In an effort to gain some control, earlier this year the Kazakhstan government doubled its stake in Kashagan, another large Caspian oilfield, to 16 percent.

Karachaganak is the only significant oil and gas asset in which the Kazakh state does not have a shareholding, according to Timur Kulibayev, chairman of KazEnergy, the Kazakh oil industry association.

The field is currently operating under a 40-year Production Service Agreement that was signed in 1997. BG Group owns 32.5 percent, and the field accounts for nearly a fifth of Britain's oil and gas production. Italy's Eni holds 32.5 percent, U.S.-based Chevron holds 20 percent, and Lukoil of Russia holds the remaining 15 percent.

Iran seeks new investments

Despite calls from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Iran's oil leaders are looking for $25 billion in domestic and foreign investments to double the country's oil and gas refining capacity by 2015, said Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari, Arabian Business News reported.

"These development projects fall in five categories with a total production capacity of 1,750,000 barrels per day and an estimated cost of $25 billion," Nozari said.

Iran imports the majority of its gasoline even though it is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world. The country is lacking in refineries, and the investment Nozari is calling for would expand that capacity.

It has been difficult for Iran to draw new investments because of sanctions placed on the country by the West due to disagreements concerning Iran's nuclear program.

The last five-year investment and refinery expansion program failed in 2006. At that time the country was trying to upgrade its refining capacity from 1.65 million barrels per day to 3.3 million barrels per day.

Iran's latest five-year plan is expected to take place between 2010 and 2015, Nozari said.

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Closing oil prices, Oct. 13, 3 p.m., London

Brent Crude oil: $78.59

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $82.81

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(e-mail: energy@upi.com)