VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- OPEC is not inclined to tinker with production, oil ministers signaled Sunday on the eve of a key cartel meeting, contending there is plenty of crude to satisfy world demand...
But with prices tumbling to five-month lows, the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will take a hard look at what its chief, Edmund Daukoru, calls "the fear factors": pipeline problems and political unrest that give global markets the jitters...
"It's time to see whether we need a good, fresh outlook," Daukoru, who doubles as Nigeria's oil minister, told reporters Sunday. "We have to look very, very carefully at what's going on with prices."
OPEC, which meets about 40 percent of the world's demand for crude, wants to see whether prices are in a free fall or are merely reacting to the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and reported progress in talks between Iran and Western powers trying to contain its suspect nuclear program.
Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, said he doesn't expect a reduction in output, but he added that OPEC members won't hesitate to curb production "if we feel the market needs a cut."
Unofficially, there was talk of drawing up an action plan if prices dip below $60 a barrel -- a level which could prompt the cartel, now pumping at close to capacity, to start tightening its taps.
But with prices tumbling to five-month lows, the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will take a hard look at what its chief, Edmund Daukoru, calls "the fear factors": pipeline problems and political unrest that give global markets the jitters...
"It's time to see whether we need a good, fresh outlook," Daukoru, who doubles as Nigeria's oil minister, told reporters Sunday. "We have to look very, very carefully at what's going on with prices."
OPEC, which meets about 40 percent of the world's demand for crude, wants to see whether prices are in a free fall or are merely reacting to the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and reported progress in talks between Iran and Western powers trying to contain its suspect nuclear program.
Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, said he doesn't expect a reduction in output, but he added that OPEC members won't hesitate to curb production "if we feel the market needs a cut."
Unofficially, there was talk of drawing up an action plan if prices dip below $60 a barrel -- a level which could prompt the cartel, now pumping at close to capacity, to start tightening its taps.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, September 10, 2006 at 9:34 PM.
