OPEC satisfied with prices, keeps oil output steady (Roundup)

By Albert Otti Sep 10, 2009, 0:52 GMT

Vienna - Oil ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said early Thursday in Vienna that they are satisfied with the current oil price and agreed to leave existing production levels unchanged.

In its decision, the oil cartel took into consideration indications for a global economic recovery.

'We have to be very careful,' OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri said. 'We don't want to take action that would jeopardize the recovery that we have seen at this time.'

El-Badri expressed hope that the recession would end in the first quarter of 2010.

'The price is perfect,' Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters at the meeting that had started late Wednesday due to the Muslim fasting season of Ramadan.

Crude oil for October delivery traded at 71.66 dollars per barrel Wednesday evening in New York, about double the price of late last year, when crude markets plummeted amid the global financial crisis. OPEC's basket price stood at 67.83 dollars per barrel Tuesday.

One barrel equals 159 litres.

Even OPEC members like Iran that normally push for production cuts to finance their national economies expressed support to leave quotas where they are.

'Given the fact that demand is depressed and also stocks are at a high level, although there is some sign of improvement in the economic situation, it seems that it would be much better to wait and see how the situation develops,' Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi said.

So far, the cartel's 12 member countries have implemented only between 68 and 70 per cent of cuts totalling 4.2 million barrels per day, which they decided on last year.

OPEC, which produces a third of the world's oil, aims to raise that level but refrained from issuing a formal call on its member states to that end.

In July, the group pumped 26.69 million barrels per day, 160,000 barrels more than in June. Most of the increase came from Angolan, Iraqi and Saudi oil fields.

While the cartel is aiming to reduce currently high oil stocks around the world, non-member Russia is increasing its oil exports and has overtaken OPEC member Saudi Arabia as the world's largest exporter, Russian newspaper Vremya Novostei reported.

Looking ahead to the UN climate change conference in December in Copenhagen, el-Badri asked industrialized countries not to discriminate against OPEC when it comes to finding an agreement that replaces the Kyoto Protocol.

'We don't want that they penalize us because we are oil-producing countries,' the OPEC chief said.

The responsibility of cleaning up the environment should not be shifted to developing countries, el-Badri said.