The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) average price for a basket of 11 crudes stood at 49.73 US dollars per barrel on Wednesday, down 0.28 dollars from the previous trading day, the oil cartel said Thursday.

This is the first time in fives months that OPEC's basket of crudes has fallen below 50 dollars a barrel, and so far the oil price in a single day has dropped by 11.64 dollar from an all-time high of 61.37 dollars per barrel set on Sept.1.

Earlier this week, the current President of OPEC, Kuwait's Energy Minister Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah, ruled out the possibility of an output cut. Nevertheless, recent falls in oil prices on the international markets have caused worries within the oil cartel, according to analysts.

OPEC member Venezuela has said the organization might need to consider production cuts, and the issue is expected to be discussed at OPEC's ministerial meeting scheduled for Dec. 12 in Kuwait.

In its monthly report released on Wednesday, OPEC forecast that daily demand for crude oil in the global market in 2005 and 2006 would be 83.3 million and 84.8 million barrels respectively, an increase of 1.18 million and 1.52 million barrels respectively over the previous year.

Source: Xinhua