Oil prices fall as OPEC signals all options open<\/p>\n
LONDON (Reuters): Oil prices slipped on Monday following
\nsignals that key producers have not ruled out raising production
\nwhen output curbs expire at the end of March.<\/p>\n
Benchmark Brent crude was 31 US cents lower at $26.76 a
\nbarrel, within 50 cents of nine-year highs hit last month.<\/p>\n
Brent has averaged $19.47 in the 12 months to date, above a
\n1999 average of $18.03 and sharply above $13.34 in 1998.<\/p>\n
Prices fell back after the Middle East Economic Survey quoted
\na senior oil official from an OPEC country saying a small output
\nincrease as early as April still remained a possibility.<\/p>\n
\"The March meeting is completely open for all possibilities.
\nThere is no forgone conclusion and there is no decision yet as
\nwhat to do in March,\" MEES quoted the official as saying.<\/p>\n
\"The options...include the possibility of a small increase
\nbeginning in the second quarter, or an increase at the beginning
\nof the third or fourth quarter,\" the official told MEES.<\/p>\n
OPEC ministers are to meet in Vienna on March 27 to decide
\nwhether to extend their current export cuts -- due to expire in
\nMarch -- aimed at removing a pledged 4.3 million barrels per day
\nfrom the market.<\/p>\n
Prices are riding near a nine-year peak of $27.11 hit on
\nJanuary 21 after 10 months of drastic OPEC export curbs reduced
\nU.S. crude inventories to their lowest in over a decade.<\/p>\n
Last week data from the United States showed commercial crude
\nstockpiles at the lowest level since the 1970s -- 281 million
\nbarrels versus 333 million this time last year.<\/p>\n
A Gulf source familiar with Saudi policy told Reuters on
\nSunday that no decision on OPEC output policy had yet been
\nfinalized ahead of the group's March meeting.<\/p>\n
He said producers wanted to ensure the market did not suffer a
\nshortage.<\/p>\n
\"But we are not going to hurry this decision. We have another
\nsix weeks or so to go. We don't want to base a decision on false
\ninformation,\" the source said<\/p>\n
A Reuters survey found OPEC oil exporters kept compliance with
\nsupply curbs little changed in January despite the temptation of
\nyet another surge in crude prices.<\/p>\n
Higher output from Iraq, not party to OPEC limits, pushed
\noverall cartel output up 560,000 bpd from December to 26.29
\nmillion bpd, according to the survey of OPEC and industry
\nofficials, consultants and tanker trackers.<\/p>\n
The survey shows that compliance by the 10 OPEC members that
\nparticipate in supply restrictions slipped a notch to 73 percent
\nin January from a December estimate of 74 percent.<\/p>\n
OPEC member Indonesia urged OPEC to allow only a small rise in
\noutput when the cartel meets, saying a maximum oil price of $26
\nwas acceptable.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/oil-prices-fall-as-opec-signals-all-options-open-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}