Crude prices retreat amid OPEC speculation

Crude prices dropped Monday as investors speculated that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may not cut production when the producer group meets this week.

OPEC members will meet in Vienna on Thursday to discuss whether the organization, which pumps a third of the world's crude, would reduce its production.

The supply responses from the OPEC, particularly Saudi Arabia, has cast huge uncertainty over the crude oil price, said a report from U.S. Energy Information Administration recently.

So far, the group has been divided on the issue, with Venezuela calling publicly for a cut while Saudi Arabia, the top producer, preferring a price cut for market share over output reduction. Ali al-Omair, the oil minister of Kuwait, has said that he did not expect OPEC to make any production cut in the meeting.

OPEC would need to reduce production by between 1 million and 1. 5 million barrels a day to boost the price, analyst of BNP Paribas said in a report recently.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down 73 cents to settle at 75.78 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery lost 68 cents to close at 79.68 dollars a barrel.