Crude oil prices declined dramatically in early Wednesday trading on expectations members of OPEC would stand pat on production levels at their next meeting.

Ministers from the 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are arriving in Vienna ahead of Friday's regular meeting. A formal decision in late 2014 to keep production steady despite evidence of a bear market for crude oil left pushed prices below the $50 mark for the first time in years.

An increase in oil production, largely from U.S. shale basins, left markets favoring the supply side amid weak global economic recovery. OPEC member Iran is anticipating higher production volumes and more of its crude oil on the market, though the overall trajectory for the group is expected to remain static. Indonesia, meanwhile, is on tap to rejoin OPEC after a nearly 10-year absence.

"We expect OPEC will likely maintain its production ceiling at the current level or adjust it upward slightly to reflect Indonesia's re-joining the group while maintaining the goal of retaining market share in general," analysis firm Wood Mackenzie said in an emailed statement.

Brent crude oil prices lost 2 percent from the previous session to sell for $43.53 per barrel at the start of trading Wednesday in New York. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark price for crude oil, was down 2.1 percent from Tuesday to start the day at $41.85.

U.S. and European policymakers are scheduled to address the health of their respective economies later this week. Eurostat, the statistical office for the European Union, reported euro area inflation at 0.1 percent for November, stable when compared with the previous month.

The European Central Bank, as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve, has said a rate of inflation at or near 2 percent would be considered healthy for the medium term.

Gazprom reviews gas line to Europe in midst of Russian, Turkish tensions
Moscow (UPI) Dec 2, 2015 -Amid frosty relations between Moscow and Ankara, Russian energy company Gazprom said it was reviewing the status of a pipeline through the Baltic Sea.

Officials with Gazprom hosted their counterparts from Austrian energy company OMV to discuss bilateral affairs.

"The meeting addressed the status of the Nord Stream II project as well as possibilities of an asset swap and oil supplies to OMV from the Gazprom group portfolio," Gazprom said in a statement.

Both sides held similar meetings in Vienna in October. OMV had no statement on the latest gathering in Moscow.

Gazprom aims to double the capacity of the existing twin Nord Stream project running through the Baltic Sea to the German coast. Two more lines would be added to the existing network, bringing the net aggregate annual capacity to 1.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Nord Stream is one of Gazprom's options to avoid geopolitical sensitive territory in Ukraine, through which a majority of its gas supplies reach Europe. Turkish Stream would carry gas through Turkey and onto markets in southern Europe.

Ties between Turkey and Russia were strained when a Russian fighter plane was downed by a Turkish military jet near the border with Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin said from the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris this week the Kremlin considered it a "criminal action."

"It was a huge mistake," he added.

Turkish Stream is a scaled-back version of South Stream, a broader pipeline network proposed by Gazprom.

Russian supplies Europe with about a quarter of its gas, though European officials this year ruled each member state should have access to "at least three different sources of gas."

Members of the European Union are slated to raise the Nord Stream issue during a mid-December meeting in Brussels.