OPEC shipments plummet

LONDON, March 6 (UPI) -- A British group tracking crude oil said exports from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are plummeting but have yet to meet quota reductions.

Oil Movements, a group tracking seaborne oil transits, said OPEC exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador, through the four-week period ending March 21 were expected to drop to 22.7 million barrels per day, a decline of 430,000 bpd from the previous four weeks, the Platts news service reports.

"From OPEC's point of view, the current rate of decline in sailings may be slower than they would like it to be; but it is nevertheless happening faster than in any recent period," Oil Movements said.

OPEC added to billions in production cuts in December in an effort to control the spiraling decline of crude oil prices and expected demand reductions from the global recession.

There is "a strong possibility" OPEC may decide on further reductions at its March 15 meeting in Vienna, said Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil, who served as OPEC president in 2008.