OPEC Might Meet Again Before March, Venezuela Says

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may hold an emergency meeting before its next scheduled meeting in March, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said.

Ramirez, who was attending a summit of gas-producing nations in Moscow, didn’t say exactly where or when such an oil meeting might take place.

Four days ago, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said OPEC may meet in Kuwait City on Jan. 19 to discuss further production cuts, adding that OPEC will continue to reduce supply as demand falls until an “equilibrium” is reached.

The potential Kuwait meeting may coincide with a meeting of Middle East leaders in that city, according to Khelil. The oil group’s meeting is currently scheduled for March 15 in Vienna.

OPEC decided on Dec. 17 to deepen existing supply cuts, and set a production limit for 11 of its members at 24.845 million barrels a day, which would be 4.2 million barrels a day less than it pumped in September, according to figures published by OPEC.

Asked about the potential for coordinating natural gas supply, Ramirez today said: “When the gas market is more developed worldwide, perhaps we’ll have more instruments to regulate the market.”

Gold Falls as Commodity Slump Damps Inflation Concern

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Gold prices fell on speculation that a drop in commodity costs will damp demand for precious metals as a hedge against inflation. Silver and platinum also declined.

The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials is down for a fifth straight session, heading for the biggest annual decline ever. Crude oil, gasoline, corn, soybeans, wheat and copper have tumbled from records in 2008. Gold has dropped 19 percent from the all-time high of $1,033.90 an ounce in March.

“Future inflationary pressures are weakening, and that’s putting a damper on gold,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “Inflation is dissipating as crude oil continues to work its way lower.”

Gold futures for February delivery fell $9.10, or 1.1 percent, to $838.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price is little changed this year.

Silver futures for March delivery slid 60 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $10.26 an ounce on the Comex, the biggest drop since Dec. 1. The most-active contract has fallen 31 percent this year.

Platinum futures for April delivery dropped $10.70, or 1.2 percent, to $850.50 an ounce on the Nymex. Palladium for March delivery was little changed at $174.70 an ounce.

Gold rallied 31 percent last year as inflation rose at the fastest rate in almost two decades. Consumer prices dropped 1.7 percent in November, the most on record, as energy costs plunged. Crude-oil futures have plummeted 73 percent to less than $40 a barrel in New York from a record $147.27 in July.

Haven Demand

Still, gold may rebound should a deepening recession boost demand for the metal as a haven, said Tom Pawlicki, an analyst at MF Global Ltd. in Chicago.

“There’s still a group of traders worried that a recession will turn into a depression,” Pawlicki said. “They’re using gold as a source of safe haven.”

The U.S. fell into a recession in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the arbiter of the country’s business cycles.

Platinum may rally should the government’s bailout of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC keep the U.S. auto industry from collapsing. Both platinum and palladium are used in pollution-control devices in cars and trucks.

“Platinum is a market based on the health of the auto industry,” Pawlicki said.

Platinum has dropped 44 percent this year. The price reached a record $2,308.80 in March. Palladium has plunged 54 percent in 2008.