Extra OPEC meet likely if prices fall more: Ecuador

PUYO, Ecuador (Reuters) - OPEC will probably hold an extraordinary meeting before its next meeting, which is scheduled for December, if oil prices continue falling, Ecuador Oil Minister Derlis Palacios said on Tuesday.

"If the decline continues, it is likely that we will hold a meeting before that one (in December)," Palacios said in an interview with Reuters.

U.S. light oil was up by around $1.70 per barrel in afternoon trading after OPEC ministers said they would take further steps to prop up prices. The group last week agreed to take 1.5 million barrels off the market amid a record price decline.

Growing fears of a world economic slowdown have led agencies such as OPEC and the U.S. Department of Energy to cut projections for future energy demand.

Producer nations have said a continued slide in oil prices could cut into investment in new projects.

(Reporting Alonso Soto; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Christian Wiessner)