OPEC gives oil 2 days.
OPEC Officials Say Group May Meet Early as Oil Drops (Update2)
By Maher Chmaytelli and Ayesha Daya
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- OPEC, the supplier of 40 percent of the world's oil, may hold a meeting before its summit on Dec. 17 to discuss how to stem the decline in crude prices, Libyan and Iranian officials said.
``If oil doesn't rebound in the next two days, we may have to meet to discuss this abnormal situation,'' Shokri Ghanem, the head of Libya's National Oil Corp., said in a telephone interview today from Tripoli. OPEC President and Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said the group may make an additional production cut before the Dec. 17 gathering in Algeria, Reuters reported.
Oil ministers and officials of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are currently holding talks by phone, Ghanem said. Crude futures fell to $57.04 a barrel in New York today, the lowest in almost 20 months, after plunging $90 from a July record as the global economic slowdown slashes energy demand.
``A meeting before December is possible,'' Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi said by telephone from Tehran today. ``In this critical situation, it is not abnormal that they consult.''
OPEC has agreed to reduce production twice since September to shore up prices as consumption wanes. Khelil said Nov. 8 that members may agree to cut output again in December.
``The oil market is oversupplied as a stock-build during this cold-weather period is abnormal,'' Iran's Khatibi said. ``If it gets very cold, maybe there will be stock draws and the market won't be oversupplied.''
Call on Russia
Libya's Ghanem called on non-member Russia to contribute to OPEC's efforts to support prices by pumping less crude.
``Low prices will hamper the expansion of oil production in many countries and that could cause a major crisis in the future,'' he said.
The International Energy Agency, which coordinates energy policy in 28 developed countries, will ``more than likely'' reduce its global oil-demand estimate for a third month in a report tomorrow, IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said in London today.
OPEC's Khelil said last week the Arab members of the group are likely to meet on Nov. 29 in Cairo, where they will be attending the annual meeting of the Arab oil ministers. OPEC's Arab members are Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
bloomberg.com |
