Saudis Vow to Ignore OPEC Decision to Cut Production

VIENNA — Hours after suffering a rare setback at OPEC headquarters, where the cartel said its members needed to lower production to keep prices from sinking below $100 a barrel, Saudi officials assured world markets on Wednesday that they would ignore the decision and continue to pump as much oil as needed.

The marathon late-night session here illustrated the new pressures and power politics at play in the group that controls 40 percent of world oil production — and how ineffective the cartel can be. The meeting might be a harbinger of things to come, as OPEC faces its most difficult challenge in years: how to respond to falling prices in a weakening and uncertain global environment.

The Saudis made their strategy clear in informal talks and briefings with oil industry analysts and reporters, but as is their custom they would not speak for attribution because they did not want to appear to undermine a collective decision by OPEC that they endorsed publicly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/business/worldbusiness/11oil.html?ref=business