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.