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