Light, sweet crude for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 40 cents to US$67.52 a barrel in Asian electronic trading. The contract on Tuesday dropped 43 cents to settle at US$67.92 a barrel. March Brent crude futures on London's ICE Futures exchange fell 37 cents to US$65.62 a barrel. U.S. President George W. Bush declared Tuesday that America must break its dependence on Mideast oil. "America is addicted to oil which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said in his State of the Union speech. OPEC's decision Tuesday had been widely expected after two days of informal meetings among the cartel's 11 members. Qatari oil minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said a cut in output would be discussed at the March meeting. But Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, one of the most influential voices in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said he didn't believe a cut would be needed at the next meeting. That sentiment was shared by OPEC President Edmund Daukoru, who said earlier that he doesn't see a cut in the group's production ceiling as likely when the group meets again, and that it wouldn't affect second quarter supply if the group agreed to do so. Naimi said the groups' decision to hold steady was unanimous and added that at no time did concerns about Iran's likely showdown with the West over its nuclear ambitions come to bear on the decision. Traders have been jittery over the possibility that Iran could be referred to the U.N. Security Council for economic sanctions over its nuclear program and might retaliate by withholding oil from the market. Iran, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity, but the U.S. and other countries fear the research cold be used to create nuclear weapons. The U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia agreed Tuesday that Iran should appear before the Security Council, where the five countries are permanent members, over its nuclear program. They called on the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to report the Iran case when it meets in Vienna on Thursday. The Security Council could impose sanctions or take other harsher action against Iran. Natural gas gained 7.4 cents to US$9.39 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil was down marginally to US$1.8400 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline was down 1.77 cents to $1.7875 a gallon. PIN/HOUSTON CHRONICLE