...countries. ''This is the first time that the United States has been really involved'' in OPEC decision-making, said Bill Edwards of Houston-based Edwards Energy Consultants. ''This time it's the big power play.'' For global consumers of...

...short-term rebound in prices," Varzi said, but he predicted that crude prices would decline over the next year or two. Bill Edwards, an energy consultant based in Houston, expressed greater concern about the impact of the cut. "I think OPEC will...