OPEC not considering production cut: Chief
OPEC not considering production cut: Chief
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Kuwait City
The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Sheikh Ahmed Fahed al-Sabah said on Sunday that the 11-member cartel was not considering a production cut ahead of its next meeting in December.
He also said it was still too early to decide on whether the cartel would extend an offer to supply an additional two million barrels per day (bpd), which it made during its last meeting in September.
"It's very early to discuss the two-million (bpd) we are offering. We will wait until the next meeting to decide. But I think there is no need to decrease the production now," Sheikh Ahmed Fahed told reporters at Kuwait's International Airport following the arrival of United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Mohammed al-Hamli.
OPEC ministers are due to meet in Kuwait on Dec. 12 to decide policy for the winter months when demand typically increases.
Al-Hamli arrived in Kuwait on Sunday ahead of the Third GCC-EU Advanced Oil and Technology Conference due to open in Kuwait on Monday.
OPEC's official production ceiling is 28 million bpd and as per the decision taken in September would pump an additional two million bpd if the market required it.
OPEC offered the extra crude after prices hit a record high of more than US$70 per barrel in August. They have since dropped to between $55 and $58 per barrel.
Sheikh Ahmed Fahed called the current price of oil "reasonable" and said that OPEC would strive through its policy decisions to keep prices at reasonable levels for both producers and consumers.
When asked if he was concerned if winter demand might outpace supply, the OPEC chief said that the cartel would wait for announcements from the United States and other big consumer nations about their strategic reserves during the course of the winter.
"We are waiting to see. The supply is there, (however) there is still a problem in refining," he said referring to a large number of U.S. refineries still shut in from damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
"I think that if there will be a problem, it will be a product problem - not a crude problem," he added.