The Hindu Business Line : OPEC set to hold output steady

VIENNA: OPEC was set today to keep its output unchanged at a meeting in Vienna, with hopes of recovering demand for crude and higher prices convincing members to maintain the status quo.

The 12-member oil exporter group believes the market is oversupplied, as shown by the high stock levels, but it seems satisfied with prices after a rally in the last two weeks that has taken crude above 60 dollars a barrel. On the eve of the meeting, Qa tar backed calls by Saudi Arabia, the most influential power in the cartel, to keep the group's output target steady at 24.84 million barrels a day.

“They won't cut,'' Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said as he arrived in Vienna. But he warned about unfounded optimism sparked by recent higher prices, underlining that demand for oil was weak as major economies remain mired in rec ession.

“This price of oil now is functional, but not related to demand and supply. We should not be too optimistic,'' he said.

Yesterday, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi had pointed to signs of increased demand in Asia and the US and implied that a global economic recovery would help absorb current overproduction.

Algeria's energy minister has said there is a consensus for no change in output policy by OPEC and even hardline Iran, whose oil minister usually pushes for cuts, conceded that the group's production target would remain the same. - PTI

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