OPEC ready for more output cuts to boost oil prices

September 9th, 2009 VIENNA - 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".

September 9th, 2009 VIENNA - The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided Wednesday to leave its current production levels unchanged, Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil said after the cartel's meeting in Vienna. So far, OPEC countries have implemented only 70 percent of production cuts decided last year, which total 4.2 million barrels per day.

September 9th, 2009 Kuwait: No need for OPEC output cutVIENNA — Kuwait's oil minister says OPEC's markets monitoring committee will recommend the 12-member producer group keep its output targets unchanged when it meets Wednesday. Sheik Ahmed Al Abullah Al Sabah says, however, that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries need to boost compliance with earlier cuts.

April 26th, 2009 OPEC heads says $50 barrel too low for investmentALGIERS, Algeria — OPEC Secretary General Abdalla el-Badri has warned that oil prices of $50 per barrel are "insufficient for continued investment" and urged a $70 barrel. El-Badri says his organization will take into consideration signs of economic recovery in any decisions on possible production cuts at a meeting in May.

March 16th, 2009 VIENNA - The world's leading oil producers will not reduce their production goals in light of the ongoing financial crisis, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced Sunday after a six-hour conference. OPEC spokesman Omar Ibrahim said the cartel would instead wait and see how previously announced production cuts play out with plans for a further review May 28.

March 13th, 2009 NEW YORK - Crude oil prices Thursday jumped more than 11 percent to settle at $47.03 a barrel on a better-than-expected US retail sales data and the upcoming meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna Sunday. Light, sweet crude for April delivery rallied $4.70 to settle at $47.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

March 12th, 2009 CARACAS - Venezuela will urge for more production cuts at the upcoming meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) March 15 in Vienna, an official said Wednesday. Angel Rodriguez, the chairman of the National Assembly's Energy and Mines Committee, said OPEC's supply-cut strategy has already produced some results but the oil price is still too low.

March 7th, 2009 VIENNA - The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Friday rejected calls to keep oil prices at present low levels, arguing this would lead to a supply crunch. Maintaining the current price would help stimulate the economic recovery of oil-importing countries, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Nobuo Tanaka, was quoted as saying by the Financial Times Thursday.

March 2nd, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari said Sunday the member countries of the Organisation of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) are not expected to announce further cut in their crude production during their upcoming meeting, the official IRNA news agency reported. 'I do not think that we would move towards cutting production again and we should define a mechanism to repair prices,' Nozari said.

February 12th, 2009 VIENNA - Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have implemented nearly two-thirds of the production cuts of 4.2 million barrels per day (b/d) they agreed to last September, an OPEC report said Friday. In its monthly market report, the Vienna-based cartel also further reduced its global demand estimates for 2009.

February 9th, 2009 NEW YORK - Crude oil prices fell below $40 a barrel Monday on weak energy demand outlook. Earlier in the day, the oil prices were boosted by comments from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that it would cut oil output further to counter the slumping demand.

January 22nd, 2009 VIENNA - The price for oil produced by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) inched up by $0.77 Thursday but stayed in the $40 range, as analysts said Friday that output cuts were leading to a more balanced market. One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude stood at $40.31 Thursday, the Vienna-based cartel announced Friday.

January 15th, 2009 VIENNA - Falling by $0.46 Thursday, the basket price for oil produced by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) continued to soar above $40, the oil-cartel announced Friday. One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude stood at $40.85 Thursday.

January 15th, 2009 LUANDA - The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Friday said that it may consider more production cuts to stabilise the global oil prices. 'OPEC will not hesitate to summon a meeting to reduce oil production to stabilise the price in global market, if necessary,' the state-run ANGOP news agency quoted Botelho de Vasconcelos, chairman of the OPEC, as saying.

January 13th, 2009 VIENNA - The price for oil produced by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell slightly Tuesday, to $40, OPEC said Wednesday. One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude was $0.24 lower than on the previous day.