After a roller coaster, oil-hungry romance over the last 16 months, the melodrama between the U.S. and OPEC may soon be cooling down. Oil continues to fall, and OPEC expects costs to dip lower and lower. Today, oil fell below $70/barrel. On top of that, OPEC is predicting that oil will fall below $50/barrel in 2009. OPEC is undoubtedly caught in the plot of a bad melodrama, and the U.S. is in the middle of it. Prices were flying high in July, only to sink to a 16-month low of $68.57 last week amid fears that a possible U.S. recession will slow demand further. OPEC's fears are so harrowing that they decided to move what they are calling their “extraordinary meeting” up from Nov. 18 to Oct. 24 to come to grips with the rapidly falling price of worldwide oil prices. What's next? Well, just like in any good soap opera, when the girl gets too dependent on the hot, handsome lover, he cuts her off. He stops being interested. He finds another love. So too, OPEC will cut some of its interest in the U.S. The steamy phase of the relationship will cool down, but I doubt the relationship will end. As reported by Algerian news media, Oil Minister Chakib Khelil says the global oil market is oversupplied by about 2 million barrels a day. Many investors are expecting to see OPEC cut production by at least 1 million barrels a day. Whether OPEC will abandon the U.S. completely is somewhat out of the question. This romance is not over yet, but Friday's meeting will be a good DTR (Define The Relationship) between OPEC and the U.S.