Commodity prices, a barometer of excessive money creation, are depressed, except for OPEC-manipulated oil.
"Any move could be counterproductive for OPEC, " Julian Callow, an economist at Credit Suisse First Boston, told CNN.
The tepid supply forecasts for non-OPEC oil producers in 2013 are not strong enough to represent any break in the fundamentals that would be unmanageable for OPEC to chip in and cover.
Crude oil prices are trading lower early Monday, on some market reports Saudi Arabia may lead an effort for OPEC to pump more crude oil amid falling world demand due to higher prices.
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While this is abundant supply of affordable energy is very good news for America, this is not the case for OPEC, or for Russia either, whose economy also depends heavily upon oil exports.
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Choking off demand in the importing countries has largely lost its allure for many OPEC producers.
In 2001, for instance, the eleven members of OPEC accounted for only just over a third of total oil production worldwide.
This global tax cartel will be akin to an OPEC for politicians, and the impact on taxpayers will be quite similar to the impact of the real OPEC on motorists.
In real terms, adjusted for inflation, Opec's revenues in 2012 were also the highest ever, surpassing the peaks set during the oil crises of 1973-74 and 1979-81.
Since Venezuela has been a member of OPEC for a long time, Chavez knows perfectly well the value of oil as a means of increasing his power inside the country and abroad.
Lynch sees the cushion climbing to 4.5 million bpd in 2007 as the Saudis bring the Khursaniya field into service but cut back elsewhere to make a place in the market for non-opec growth.
But even more pertinent is the huge variation in their national interests, between those such as low-lying small islands that may literally cease to exist as nations as the sea level rises, and the oil-producing states of the Persian Gulf and Opec for whom the priority is to keep the oil and gas flowing.
But when Iraq does return to the market it may well be a problem for the rest of Opec.
For those who take OPEC's optimistic view of Iraqi production at face value, the cartel's move should not have come as a surprise.
He's asking for Ecuador and Bolivia to be included in OPEC, and he's also pushing for basically nationalizing the oil industry in Latin America.
In addition, he doesn't want to be seen going hat in hand to OPEC, asking for price cuts.
If demand for oil is strong then Opec might well survive even if it has to contend with an Iraq fulfilling its potential.
Peter Rehmer, an energy specialist at US-based technical analysts Elliott Wave International, said Opec was looking for a decisive price rise before it increased production.
Since then, industrialised economies have reduced their dependence on oil, but it is still a crucial commodity, and OPEC still accounts for around 40% of world oil production.
"The Kuwaiti minister has said that for credibility's sake Opec will need to increase production by 500, 000 barrels a day and that began the sell-off, " said Chris Mennis of California-based energy trader New Wave Energy.
Ali Rodriguez Araque, OPEC's secretary-general, has pointed out that the change in price is not the result of any change in the balance of supply and demand for oil, and he also said that OPEC has no intention of manipulating the price or supply of oil for political reasons.
On those occasions, the price kept falling for more than six months after OPEC first began reducing its output.
He also opposes a "NOPEC" provision in both the Senate and House versions that would allow members of OPEC to be sued for violating U.S. anti-trust laws.
The outlook for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Country's meeting on Thursday, in which OPEC is expected to report unchanged output and increased global demand for oil, sent oil's price down in pre-market trading.
Higher prices would also lead consumers to opt for alternative source of energy, which OPEC would want to avoid.
Iran and Venezuela, both members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have called for it to cut output.
It would be politically foolish for Bush to push the issue with OPEC members, which include Kuwait, Saudia Arabia and the UAE.
The incentive to cheat grew even stronger as non-OPEC suppliers, especially Russia, grew in importance. (Russia's output has increased by 2m bpd every year for the past three years.) OPEC's current production of around 30m bpd (including Iraq) is well above its official quota of 26m bpd.
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