Oil producers in the OPEC group of countries will make another attempt this week to reverse a slump in crude prices. Algeria's Energy Minister, Noureddine Bouterfa said there would be an informal gathering of OPEC members on the sidelines of a energy conference in Algiers on Wednesday. <br/><br/>He said yesterday an oil output cut or freeze would be on the agenda. Oil prices collapsed from peaks of more than 100 dollars a barrel in mid-2014 to near 13-year lows below 30 dollars in January. The price on Friday was 44.48 dollars a barrel. That slump has been causing problems for countries which rely heavily on revenues from exports.<br/><br/>Mr Bouterfa said OPEC's 14 members, which produce about a third of the world's oil, have so far failed to agree a deal to cut output that would prop up prices. But the state of the oil market was more critical than when OPEC last met three months ago.<br/><br/>Crucially, Saudi Arabia, the largest OPEC member and which has resisted production curbs, may now be more willing to cut output. according to data compiled by Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia pumped a record 10.69 million barrels a day in August compared with 10.2 million in January.