Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Oil ministers
from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Algeria said production cuts should
stay in place until the end of March.
The ministers, Saudi Arabia's Ali Al-Naimi, Iran's Bijan
Namdar Zanganeh and Algeria's Youcef Yousfi, met in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia, to discuss oil policies before the Sept. 22 conference of
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are the two biggest producers within OPEC.
Ten of OPEC's 11 members, plus several other producers, have
reduced output by about 7 percent of world supply, contributing
to a doubling of crude oil prices from a 12-year low in December.
``The Iranian and Algerian oil ministers share (Saudi
Arabia's) view on the importance of continuing the current
production cuts and showing full commitment to them until the end
of March next year because the world oil stockpile is still high
and hasn't yet retreated to its normal situation,' Naimi said in
a statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Crude oil futures for October delivery rose 66 cents to
$24.21 a barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up
from crude's low of $10.35 in December.
``There is joint satisfaction by the three ministers over
the improvement of oil prices over the past few months,' Naimi
said, crediting full commitment from OPEC and non-OPEC producers
to restraining oil output.
With the big gain in prices, traders and analysts are
watching for signs that OPEC may be wavering in its commitment to
maintain the output cuts through March 31.
No Boat Rocking
While the statement from Naimi carried particular weight,
because Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oil producer, it
followed similar pledges of continued support for the production
cuts from other OPEC members, including Venezuela.
``They are not going to say anything to rock the boat,'
said Craig Gile, an energy derivatives trader at Citibank NA in
New York. ``If, say, you see $30 crude oil by November . . . If
they felt (prices) had reached the point when they need to turn
the faucets back on, they would do that, but are they are not
going to say that now.'
Yousfi, who also is the current president of OPEC, was in
Jeddah after meeting with other OPEC oil ministers in Abu Dhabi
and Kuwait.
OPEC's 11th member, Iraq, isn't participating in production
cuts, because its output is regulated by the United Nations.
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