Up until the past few weeks we were getting signals from OPEC that we would be seeing some cuts coming in the near future, but now I believe it to be highly doubtful that any cuts are coming in the next several months. Politically it just would not look right to see the group lower its output will prices are at all-time highs. But then again, OPEC typically does what OPEC wants to do.

OPEC has argued that the recent surge in prices has nothing to do with fundamentals. They point to the rising inventories in America as evidence that demand is not up to the levels that would justify opening up the pumps a little more. In fact, they have estimated that demand this year will fall 400,000 barrels a day under that of 2007.

So what will OPEC ultimately decide to focus on? Should it look at the current record high prices and look to put some oil into the market? Or can we expect it to pay more attention to the inventory levels in the U.S.? In the end, I think that OPEC will lean more towards cutting back supplies to prevent over saturating the market in the event of a recession down the road, but for now, I wouldn't expect to see any changes coming out of the group.

What are your thoughts? Does OPEC need to step in a lift its quotas in order to cool prices down, or should they stand by and let the market figure it out for itself for the time being? What would you do in their shoes?

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.