AUSTRIA: OPEC oil ministers are poised to hold output steady and aim for price of $75 per barrel by the end of the year
Record ID:
1531508
AUSTRIA: OPEC oil ministers are poised to hold output steady and aim for price of $75 per barrel by the end of the year
- Title: AUSTRIA: OPEC oil ministers are poised to hold output steady and aim for price of $75 per barrel by the end of the year
- Date: 28th May 2009
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (MAY 27, 2009) (REUTERS) (CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY) VENEZUELA'S OIL MINISTER RAFAEL RAMIREZ GETTING OUT OF CAR AND ENTERING INTO HOTEL SOUNDBITE (English) VENEZUELA'S OIL MINISTER RAFAEL RAMIREZ SPEAKING TO MEDIA, SAYING "We expect to have by the end of the year the price near 75 dollars (USD). That price is necessary for the investments. We have huge investments in the sector and everybody needs that fair price for the capacity for investments." RAFAEL RAMIREZ TAKING TO MEDIA IN HOTEL LOBBY RAFAEL RAMIREZ WALKING IN CORRIDOR SURROUNDED BY MEDIA AND SECURITY SAUDI ARABIA'S OIL MINISTER ALI NAIMI WALKING IN STREET WITH SECURITY AFTER HIS JOGGING SESSION SOUNDBITE (English) SAUDI ARABIA'S OIL MINISTER ALI NAIMI SAYING: "Global economy is getting better. It's slowly recovering and we are seeing good off-shoots of the recovery. AUDIO OF REPORTER ASKING QUESTION (Is there a need to cut production?), ALI NAIMI SAYING: "I have said in Rome stay the course, whatever that means (laughs)." ALI NAIMI ENTERING HOTEL UNITED ARAB EMIRATES' OIL MINISTER MOHAMED BIN DHAEN AL HAMLI GETTING OUT OF CAR AND ENTERING HOTEL SURROUNDED BY MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES' OIL MINISTER MOHAMED BIN DHAEN AL HAMLI ANSWERING REPORTERS QUESTION ABOUT POSSIBLE REDUCTION OF SUPPLY, SAYING "About production we should look at the numbers tomorrow." MOHAMED BIN DHAEN AL HAMLI IN HOTEL LOBBY WITH MEDIA AND SECURITY EXTERIOR OPEC HEADQUARTERS
- Embargoed: 12th June 2009 15:44
- Keywords:
- Location: Austria
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Economic News,Energy
- Reuters ID: LVA7IO3OQVCSOJJV8JW7KHYG1HVS
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: OPEC ministers set their sights on oil at $75 on the eve of policy talks in Vienna, but were expected to hold output steady and rely instead on economic recovery to driVe the market higher.
On arriving in Vienna on Wednesday, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said he hoped oil would reach $75 in the fourth quarter.
"We expect to have by the end of the year the price near 75 dollars (USD). That price is necessary for the investments. We have huge investments in the sector and everybody needs that fair price for the capacity for investments," Ramirez said.
Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said earlier on Wednesday the world was ready to cope with oil at $75-$80 a barrel, the price range the kingdom considers high enough to sustain energy investment for the long term.
Oil has already climbed from a low of $32.40 last December to six-month highs above $63 a barrel on Wednesday.
"Global economy is getting better. It's slowly recovering and we are seeing good off-shoots of the recovery," Naimi told reporters.
Naimi said Thursday's meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries did not need to change the group's output policy, but he stopped short of saying there was already a consensus among the group's 12 members.
Saudi Arabia has always been regarded as a moderate.
Venezuela, by contrast, which has big social spending plans to finance, has typically been among the first to demand higher prices.
When OPEC last met in March, oil was below $50.
Citing the need to restore the economy, which in turn would boost oil demand, the group then called only for tighter adherence to existing output curbs, rather than making new ones.
Since September last year, OPEC has lowered output by 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and has implemented around 80 percent of the promised cuts.
The historically high compliance has helped to drive the oil price rally, which has also been sustained by expectations across financial markets that the worst is over economically.
Some analysts have said there is a lack of hard evidence behind the market rises and that strength could be temporary, while others said Naimi's view was probably accurate.
The International Energy Agency, which represents consumer countries, said in a report this month oil inventories in developed countries had risen to the equivalent of 62.4 days of forward cover, the most since 1993.
It has taken a very bearish view of demand for this year -- predicting a drop in fuel consumption of 2.56 million bpd compared with last year -- deeper than the fall of 1.57 million bpd forecast by OPEC's economists in their latest report.
But the IEA has also argued that because cheaper oil has stymied investment any demand recovery could drive prices back to the record levels of nearly $150 hit last July. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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