Thaindian News

Vienna, Sep 9 (DPA) Delegates indicated the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would keep present output quotas and not cut production, as they prepared for a late-night meeting of their oil ministers Wednesday.
Analysts said they also expected such an outcome, with the Frankfurt-based Commerzbank writing in a report that “a change of production quotas would be very surprising and not particularly credible”.

Kuwait’s Oil Minister Sheik Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah said after a meeting of OPEC’s production monitoring committee Tuesday evening that the body would recommend not to touch current levels, but that compliance with agreed quotas should improve.

So far, the oil cartel’s 12-member states have implemented only around 70 percent of cuts totalling 4.2 million barrels per day which were decided on last year, one barrel equalling 159 litres.

OPEC aims to raise that level to 75 percent, al-Sabah said.

The Vienna-based organization was expected to make the outcome of their meeting public at around 11.30 p.m GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), owing to the Muslim Ramzan fasting season.

Oil prices plummeted at the end of last year because of the global economic and financial crisis, but has more than doubled since then, in part buoyed by OPEC’s supply cuts.

On Wednesday, the benchmark WTI brand of crude oil for October delivery traded at $71.68 per barrel in New York, $0.58 above the previous day.

OPEC’s basket price stood at $67.83 per barrel Tuesday.

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 oil exporter, Russian newspaper Vremya Novostei reported.

“That surely doesn’t make OPEC happy,” said Johannes Benigni at Vienna-based oil consultancy JBC Energy.