OPEC Panic

GENEVA, Switzerland--A key Arab oil minister, Mana Saced Oteiba of the United Arab Emirates, suggested yesterday that his country would cut the price of its oil if an emergency OPEC meeting this week failed to reach agreement.

Oteiba's surprise comment came after his Nigerian counterpart, Tam David-West, ruled out joining the cartel in reducing production to prop up its prices.

Together, the statements appeared to complicate the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' desperate effort to stave off the second official price reduction in the past 19 months.

All 13 cartel oil ministers are due to meet in emergency session today to seek agreement on a hastily fashioned plan for cutting overall OPEC production by at least 1 million barrels a day. The present OPEC limit on production is 17.5 million barrels a day.