Less than a month after agreeing to hold oil output steady, OPEC member countries are considering an emergency meeting as early as next week to hammer out a consensus on cutting production to bolster crude prices. The decision could significantly increase fuel prices that have dropped in recent months.

Citing faltering economic growth in much of the world, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced the outlook for demand for crude has abruptly deteriorated. The group now supports the idea of a cut in output.

OPEC Secretary-general Ali Rodriguez said in a statement that several ministers of member countries agreed on the need to curtail output, though they haven't agreed yet on a specific figure for a cut.

OPEC pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil. The group has trimmed its official production twice this year by a total of 2.5 million barrels a day.

The weekly retail on-highway diesel prices released by the Energy Department Monday (July 23) show the cost of diesel fuel continues to tumble despite the announcement from OPEC. The national average price per gallon fell for the eighth straight week to $1.35 - the cheapest diesel has been since January 2000.

The biggest decrease from a week ago was in the state of California. Diesel there dropped more than 5 cents to $1.515 per gallon. Despite the decline, fuel in the state remains the most expensive in the nation.

The lowest prices nationally are once again found in the Lower Atlantic region. Fuel there fell about 2 cents from last week to $1.309 per gallon.

The remaining regions' price per gallon is as follows: East Coast, $1.35; New England, $1.47; Central Atlantic, $1.44; Midwest, $1.32; Gulf Coast, $1.32; Rocky Mountain, $1.37; and West Coast, $1.45, respectively.