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World crude prices slipped in Asian trade Tuesday ahead of a crucial meeting later in the day of the 13-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, amid mixed production signals emanating from the cartel`s members.

The meeting is being held in the backdrop of oil prices having fallen nearly 30 percent from the all-time high of $147.27 per barrel recorded July 11.

New York`s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery dropped 64 cents to $105.70 a barrel from $106.34 at the close of floor trading Monday in the U.S. Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell 18 cents to $103.26.

The cartel, which pumps 40 percent of world oil, will discuss the its stand on production targets, but comments from key members indicate internal differences on whether the output should be reduced in the face of recent declining prices.

Algeria, Iran, Venezuela and Libya have raised fears of oversupply, and suggested the need for a reduction in output, while Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Ecuador have called for no change.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari, who has been the most vocal proponent of tightening OPEC`s oil spigots, said Monday that OPEC was oversupplying the market, and he would advocate a fair oil price at the upcoming meeting of the cartel.

Nozari said the costs of oil production have increased nearly 25-30 percent, while oil-exporting countries face declining prices. He warned that if the current declining trend in oil prices continues, it will paralyze some producers due to the high cost of maintaining oil-production facilities.

OPEC President and Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil confirmed Monday that a cut in production by the group would be discussed.

`Everybody agrees that we will have an oversupply problem of between half a million and one-and-a-half million barrels per day by early next year,` he said as he arrived in the Austrian capital.

At present, OPEC is believed to be pumping in excess of one million barrels more than its quota of 29.67 million barrels per day (bpd), with Saudi Arabia providing most of the extra oil.