The OPEC oil producers’ cartel announced Thursday it would hold an emergency meeting in Vienna on November 18, as member countries worried over the effects of the global financial crisis on crude prices.

“The Organization is concerned about the deteriorating economic conditions,” the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in a statement.

“The subprime mortgage problems that have been observed for a long time have created a shock wave in financial institutions resulting in huge losses, and escalating credit squeeze which has turned into a deep financial crisis.”

Chronic turmoil on world financial markets had spread to many regions across the globe and “created even more uncertainties for the world economy,” it added.

“Amid growing unease over this situation, the Organisation has decided to hold an extraordinary meeting … on Tuesday, 18 November 2008, in Vienna to discuss the global financial crisis, the world economic situation and the impacts on the oil market.”

The cartel’s next regular meeting was scheduled for December 17 in Oran, Algeria.

OPEC also noted that “the organization reiterates its determination to ensure that oil market fundamentals are kept in balance and market stability is maintained.”

Algerian news agency APS reported earlier Wednesday that OPEC would hold an emergency meeting on November 18 but confirmation from the cartel only came early Thursday evening.

Commenting on the oil situation Thursday, Libya’s oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, noted that: “Producer countries face a double problem: the fall in oil prices and the fall in the value of investments because of the world financial crisis.”

“Producer countries should look after their interests,” he added, calling for “a reduction in output to respond to the fall in income.”

At its last ordinary meeting on September 9-10, OPEC decided to cut its production of 520,000 barrels of oil per day to sustain oil prices above 100 dollars a barrel — but they have since dropped below that figure.

The cartel’s daily basket of 11 reference crudes, which is always reported with a 24-hour delay, stood Wednesday at 77.38 dollars per barrel, continuing its steady fall from 97.90 dollars on September 29.

Iran said last week that a price under 100 dollars per barrel was “unsuitable,” while Ghanem called on oil-producing countries Tuesday to cut output to protect their incomes if crude prices continued to trade at current levels.

Oil prices sank Thursday as plunging stock markets outweighed news of the OPEC meeting, although with prices far below record highs of around 147 dollars in July, traders remained concerned the cartel could slash output in November in an attempt to prevent the market sinking any lower.

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