If a price war emerges, "no one will be the winner - countries, companies, producers, consumers - we will all suffer severely," OPEC secretary general, Mr Ali Rodriguez said. Some officials have even conceded that the price of oil could fall to as little as $US10 a barrel with a full blown "crisis" a distinct reality.

At the time of writing, though crude has recovered somewhat due to uncertainty over Iraq's response to a UN vote of sanctions, it is trading at around $US19 bbl. There is big interest for OPEC members to resist overproduction and prevent a glut on the market. Members are still smarting over the $US100 billion that was lost in 1998 and 1999, a shocking figure given some members rely as much as 90 per cent of government revenue on oil sales.

Some analysts however are not as pessimistic and believe common interests will bring Russia and OPEC to some agreement. They point to the catastrophic state of the Russian economy and its need for hard currency.

So far, independent producers Norway, Mexico and Oman have pledged to curb output. An agreement depends on Russia, the second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, which won't decide on output for next year until December 10.