Vienna  - Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have signalled they would not change output quotas at a meeting in Vienna this Wednesday, reflecting a view among analysts that now is not the time for a production cut.

"For one, OPEC has not yet implemented all it has decided so far," said Eugen Weinberg with Commerzbank in Frankfurt, referring to the oil cartel's decisions taken through December of last year to cut total output by 4.2 million barrels per day, one barrel equalling 159 litres.

The group is currently implementing only around 70 per cent of those reductions, analysts said. Therefore, a call for greater adherence to targets was likely to be issued by oil ministers meeting in Vienna.

Additionally, increasing the amount of pumped oil would run counter to efforts to reduce currently high oil stocks, said Johannes Benigni at JBC Energy in Vienna.

OPEC's basket price has been relatively stable in recent months, staying largely in a band between 60 and 70 dollars per barrel since June 23, when the organization decided not to touch production quotas in order not to hinder the recovery of the world economy.

On Monday afternoon in the United States, the benchmark brand of WTI crude for October delivery traded at 68.09 dollars per barrel in New York.

But OPEC, which produces around a third of the world's crude oil, has little influence on current crude prices, analysts said.

"Given the crisis and lower demand, OPEC is currently not very powerful," said Claudia Kemfert, an expert at the DIW economic research institute in Berlin.

Rather than basing their decisions on supply levels, traders were dealing in expectations about economic recovery, and funds were investing in oil in order to hedge against inflation, Benigni said.

The Vienna-based analyst said he believed oil prices would remain stable in the coming months, as markets "are in a stalemate."

On one hand, oil is being bought to protect against inflation, which could push up crude prices, he said.

However, OPEC expects demand to contract by 0.64 per cent in industrialized countries, with only developing regions and countries such as China contributing to worldwide demand growth of 0.59 per cent. (dpa)