WHICH AMONG THEM CAN AFFORD CUTS?:

Oil nears $100 a barrel ahead of Opec meeting (Angela Jameson, 8/09/08, Times of London)

The fall to $101 a barrel takes the price of crude to a five-month low and within touching distance of the pyschologically-significant $100 a barrel level, last seen in April.

However, most analysts believe that the oil producers will elect to maintain the current level of production, which is favoured by Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the cartel.