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.