No need to cut oil output: Purnomo<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jakarta\/London<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Mines and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on
\nWednesday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
\n(OPEC) doesn't need to cut oil output further, as world oil
\nprices are rising.<\/p>\n
\"An output cut isn't necessary, as oil prices are improving,\"
\nhe was quoted by Dow Jones as saying.<\/p>\n
He said OPEC's reference oil price has risen to around US$27 a
\nbarrel, and demand from the U.S. is expected to rise during the
\nsummer.<\/p>\n
OPEC will meet in Qatar's capital city of Doha on June 11 to
\ndecide whether a further reduction in output is necessary.<\/p>\n
Following a slump in oil prices toward the end of the Iraq
\nwar, officials from OPEC member countries had signaled OPEC would
\ncut output further to bring its reference oil price up to its
\ntarget of $25\/bbl.<\/p>\n
At its last meeting in March, OPEC decided to cut output by 2
\nmillion barrels per day (bpd) effective June 1. At the same time,
\nit raised its production quotas to 25.4 million bpd from 24.5
\nmillion bpd.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is OPEC's only Southeast Asian member.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, oil prices held steady in early trading here on
\nWednesday as traders waited anxiously for weekly stock figures
\nfrom the U.S. government, amid worries about the low levels of
\ngasoline inventories.<\/p>\n
The price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude oil for July
\ndelivery dipped 3 U.S. cents to $27.25 per barrel here.<\/p>\n
New York's light sweet crude July contract was down 2 U.S.
\ncents to $30.65 in out-of-hours electronic trading.<\/p>\n
\"The market is fairly calm ahead of the U.S. stats,\" said
\nPeter Gignoux, head of the petroleum desk at Citigroup's Smith
\nBarney.<\/p>\n
Expectations were mixed ahead of the weekly oil inventory data
\nfrom the U.S. government to be published later on, with some
\nanalysts looking for a rise in crude stocks and others for a
\nfall.<\/p>\n
But the main focus is likely to be on gasoline, or petrol,
\ninventories again with traders worried about the availability of
\nsupplies for the so-called summer driving season in the United
\nStates when Americans hit the roads for vacations.<\/p>",
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