Oil prices drop ahead of OPEC meeting

New York, June 2 (IANS) Oil prices were down slightly ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery on Wednesday lost 9 cents to settle at $49.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery decreased 17 cents to close at $49.72 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, Xinhua news agency reported.

OPEC will hold a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday. Media reports said the organization may consider the reintroduction of an output cap at its Thursday meeting.

Analysts said the decision would be a major compromise for OPEC, which failed to agree on an output ceiling at its last meeting in December.

The expectation for such an agreement helped oil prices erased most of the day's losses on Wednesday.