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Oil company executives are breathing easier - for the moment. OPEC's price cut from $34 to $29 is expected to hold, preventing the ''free fall'' in oil prices some experts predicted. At $29 a barrel, say industry experts, non-OPEC producers such as Britain and the USSR may offer slight discounts, but not for long. But oilmen are concerned that another of their forecasts may come true: new taxes on oil. Oilmen say they hear White House and congressional rumbles for such taxes. From the government's viewpoint, lower crude oil prices may seem like an opportunity to divert money that previously went into oil company pockets to help offset the deficit or fund jobs programs.

But the major US oil companies say they need the savings to repay their losses on $34 oil and to maintain exploration programs.m