-
OPEC’s 12 member countries will hold a meeting on Tuesday at the ministerial level in Luanda, the capital of Angola, to discuss the current status of the international oil market and the bloc’s future policies on oil production.
-
OPEC is likely to leave the daily production quota of crucial oil unchanged, said Algerian Energy and Mines Minister, Chakib Khali on Sunday.
-
“There will be no change in OPEC supply of crude oil. OPEC will not reduce supply and it will not increase supply,” Khelil said before leaving for Luanda.
-
Oil on international futures markets has traded close to the $75 per barrel top exporter Saudi Arabia and others have said is fair to both consumers and producers.
-
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has officially held supply targets steady since it agreed a record supply cut in December last year of 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
-
On an inspection tour to Province Guelma in Eastern Algeria last week, Khelil noted that OPEC would not raise its crucial oil outputs as of 2012, stressing that excess supply might lead to an unbalanced market.
-
OPEC delievered about 80% of those cuts earlier this year, but compliance has slipped to around 60% as the oil price has recovered from a steep slide last year.
-
Some have said Tuesday’s OPEC meeting could make the case for tighter compliance, while others have said OPEC might need to act to reduce excess supply early in 2010.
-
In a report at the weekend, consultancy PFC Energy said OPEC might have to cut oil supply by one million bpd early in 2010 if weak demand led to a further rise in oil stockpiles, but it did not anticipate a supply reduction to be agreed in Luanda this week.
-
Among the 12 members of the bloc, it is reported that the oil ministers of Iran and Kuwait will not attend Tuesday’s meeting, and the two member countries will be represented by delegates.