OPEC oil ministers meeting in Vienna on Thursday are in a bind. Prices are plunging – and in the short term, the cartel may not be able to do much about it. Expectations that the group would not cut output to support the market saw the global price of oil slump another $1.89 on Thursday to $75.86 a barrel, extending its losses since June, when it was as high as $115. That drop has been driven by a boom in shale production in the United States as well as weakness in some major world economies, causing supply to outpace demand. OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia can weather such lower prices because its coffers are well-padded and its production costs are relatively low. But poorer OPEC members like Venezuela and Nigeria need levels close to $100 or above to fund national budgets. Saudi rival Iran is suffering, too, […]