OPEC sees huge oil oversupply if no action taken

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The world faces a huge oversupply of oil next year if leading producers fail to reduce output, OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said on Tuesday, as his organisation prepares for an emergency meeting to discuss cuts.

Badri told reporters after arriving in Moscow the world would have too much oil until the end of the second quarter of 2009, although he did not specify whether this forecast took into account possible production cuts by OPEC member countries.

"If things stay as they are, there will be a huge excess of supply in 2009," Badri said.

Oil prices have halved since peaking in July to trade at around $70 per barrel.

Badri said no observers, including Russia, would attend an emergency OPEC meeting in Vienna on Friday at which the organisation is widely expected to announce output cuts.

He said meetings this week with Russian officials would simply involve an exchange of information.

Badri also said the financial crisis would be felt around the world and that OPEC was powerless to stop it.

"Everybody will feel the heat one way or another of the financial crisis. The Chinese are the least likely to be affected," he said.