Weaker Opec members panic as oil slide continues

London

WEAKER members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are appealing to Saudi Arabia to cut oil production following an eight-week price slide to the lowest levels since the financial crisis of 2008.

Brent Oil was trading at US$46.4 a barrel on late Friday, wiping out the first-half 2015 rally to US$60 and 59 per cent below its 2014 peak of US$112. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), down 62 per cent from the 2014 peak, tumbled to US$41.2 and is close to the psychological level of US$40.