Opec ministers are meeting in Cairo to discuss the recent steep fall in the price of oil.
The price of a barrel of oil has tumbled to below $55 after peaking at a record $147 dollars in mid-July.
Cartel members have lost hundreds of billions of dollars as global demand for oil drops in the face of the economic downturn.
But ministers have dampened expectations that a cut in production would be announced this weekend.
Opec member Venezuela favours a cut in output of a million barrels a day to try to boost prices.
But several oil ministers have suggested an announcement at these informal talks in Cairo is unlikely and that a meeting in Algeria in December will be more important.
The Iranian Oil minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, said a cut may be announced at the Opec meeting in Algeria on 17 December.
"Here we will prepare some data and maybe the final decision will be in Algeria," he said.
His view was backed up by the Qatari Energy Minister, Abdullah Attiyah, and the Saudi Oil Minister, Ali Naimi.
"This meeting is a preparatory meeting for a more resolved and firm decision in Algeria," Mr Naimi said on Saturday.
Balancing demand
Falls in demand in the US, the world's top energy consumer, and other industrialised countries, have helped drive prices down from a record peak of more than $147 a barrel.
Opec, which accounts for 40% of global oil production, cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day last month, but the move failed to stop prices from declining.
While cartel members have not ruled out making another output cut, some say the impact of the existing cuts still have to be felt.
"Combined with weakening non-Opec supplies, the projected...output curtailment suggests that the oil market could actually tighten moving into 2009," Barclays Capital said in a research note.
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