Some OPEC members float idea of oil supply cut

By Nick Tattersall and Thomas Grove

LAGOS/ANTALYA, Turkey (Reuters) - OPEC may need to intervene to balance the oil market if prices fall further, Nigeria said on Wednesday, making it the latest country in the exporters' group to float the prospect of supply curbs.

Nigeria joins Libya, Iran and Iraq, fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in expressing concern this week about the impact of the financial crisis on the oil market.

"There may be a need to intervene to balance the market, if the price slide seemingly predicted on demand and over-supply continues," Nigerian Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia told Reuters.

Oil prices hit a 10-month low of $86.05 a barrel on Wednesday as expectations mounted that the credit crisis would slow global demand for oil, the main source of income for OPEC members.

The group's 13 members pump about two in every five barrels of oil. On a visit to Turkey, Iraq's oil minister said OPEC may need to consider cutting output if the price of crude remains below $90.

"If there are any future declines below $90, we will need to consider taking action, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the Turkish coastal city Antalya.

Crude prices rallied only briefly on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve led a global round of interest rate cuts to try to bolster the world economy.

U.S. crude was down $2.50 at $87.56 a barrel by 9:20 a.m. EDT. It has fallen rapidly from a record high of $147.27 in July.