Production warning: The Opec oil cartel warned consuming nations yesterday that it will take further action to increase crude prices that have plunged by nearly 60% since reaching a peak of $147 a barrel in July.

The Opec oil cartel warned consuming nations yesterday that it will take further action to increase crude prices that have plunged by nearly 60% since reaching a peak of $147 a barrel in July.

Opec secretary-general Abdullah al-Badri said if prices continued to fall, Opec would call another meeting to discuss production levels.

United Arab Emirates energy minister Mohammed Bin Dhaen al-Hamli said the current low prices were "very dangerous for the world's economy".

"We need an adequate, reasonable oil price that will continue to stimulate investment," he said. "I think this is really a crisis situation and I think it is very difficult to predict what's going to happen."

Opec agreed last week to cut production by 1.5 million barrels per day.

Libya's most senior oil official, Shokri Ghanem, said at a conference in London yesterday that the cartel may need to reduce output further.

"Talking about the recent cut, we have to wait to see how the market behaves in the coming weeks ... If the price continues to deteriorate, it's going to affect everything," he said.

Last week's meeting was swift to reach agreement on the need for an output cut. Opec president Chakib Khelil of Algeria said the group - which has often been accused of disunity in the past - had stood firm.

"All the countries agreed (in the meeting). There were no discussions, no conflict, not with Saudi Arabia or with Venezuela," Khelil was quoted as saying. "Either the market believes us and the prices stabilise. Or it doesn't, and then we'll have to do things so the market believes we are serious."

US crude rose to nearly $65 a barrel, tracking a recovery in European and Asian stock markets as dealers returned to buy beaten-down shares.

However, in New York trading, US light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 49 cents to $62.73 as demand faltered. London-traded North Sea Brent crude gained $1.06 to $62.47.

The credit crisis, which began in the US mortgage industry, has widened into a worldwide rout as investors have dumped stocks and commodities, shunned higher-risk emerging markets and sought out the safest government bonds and currencies.

Global turmoil has already had a major impact on fuel consumption and some analysts have predicted that crude could fall to $50 a barrel - widely seen as the cash cost of production for many newer oil projects.