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OPEC set to cut oil output as demand drops
AFP - 36 minutes ago
ORAN, Algeria (AFP) - - The OPEC secretary general said on Monday that an over-supplied oil market needed a hefty output cut, sending crude prices surging on world markets.
OPEC's president meanwhile also said here that there was unanimous support in the organisation for a cutback.
The remarks underpinned speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries -- a cartel pumping 40 percent of world crude -- will take action to boost oil prices at a meeting in Oran on Wednesday.
OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri told reporters on his arrival in the Mediterranean port city that he would like to see "a very sizeable cut" in crude oil production, adding that "the market is oversupplied with oil."
And OPEC president Chakib Khelil said: "Everybody is supporting a cut... I don't have any doubt about it."
In reaction, oil futures jumped by more than two dollars or about five percent to almost 49 dollars a barrel in London and New York trading.
However oil prices have plunged by as much as 70 percent since reaching all-time highs of above 147 dollars a barrel only five months ago as a global economic slowdown dents energy demand worldwide.
"We are very pessimistic about demand," Khelil said on Monday after Badri had warned of excess supply in the market.
Khelil, who is also Algeria's energy minister, added that a price of 75 dollars a barrel would be good for producers and consumers.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday said it expected global oil demand to fall this year for the first time since 1983.
"Stocks are very high," Badri said on Monday.
"We have about 100 million barrels oversupply and we have to take it out of the market. And the situation is very difficult. We have to take action at this time," added the secretary general.
Analysts are forecasting a cut of between one million and two million barrels from OPEC's official daily output quota of 27.3 million barrels, excluding Iraq.
Oil analyst John Hall said "it is more than likely the group will cut, although by how much is uncertain, with estimates ranging between a million and two million barrels a day."
But the ability of OPEC to influence the market will also depend on whether it succeeds with a campaign to convince major non-member producers such as Russia, Mexico and Norway to reduce their output too.
"We hope the non-OPEC countries will help. The market is in a very difficult situation," Badri said.
Non-OPEC producers Russia, Azerbaijan, Syria and Oman are to attend Wednesday's meeting, Khelil said Saturday.
Khelil said Russia would be represented by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko at the meeting in Oran.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia was ready to join forces with OPEC to stem the plunge in crude prices and could even become part of the oil cartel if membership were in Moscow's interests.
Russia is not an OPEC member but ranks alongside the cartel's de facto leader Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil exporter.
Libya and Iran have also called for a major reduction in output to support prices.
OPEC has so far agreed on cuts of 2.0 million barrels per day this year but the IEA -- a Paris-based energy policy advisor -- has cast doubt on the willingness of some members of the cartel to reduce their operaations.
OPEC comprises Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, outgoing member Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Iraq is the only member without an output quota owing to persistent unrest in the country.
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Enlarge Photo
File photo shows the OPEC logo in Vienna, Austria. OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri has said that the oil producers' cartel needs to approve a "very sizeable cut" in output when it holds a meeting here later in the week.
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