Declining by nearly 5 dollars, the price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has fallen below 70 dollars, OPEC said Thursday.
One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC crude stood at 68.58 dollars Wednesday, 4.91 dollars lower than 73.49 dollars on the previous day, reported dpa.
Citing the negative effect of the financial crisis on global oil demand, the cartel lowered its global crude oil demand forecast for 2009 by 450,000 barrels per day, to an average 87.2 million barrels per day.
The group's oil ministers are set to gather for an extraordinary session in Vienna on November 18 to discuss possible production cuts in reaction to falling oil prices.
OPEC calculates an average basket price based on 13 important brands produced by its members.