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VIENNA : Top oil-producing countries held their output steady on Thursday and expressed "grave concern" that recovery from the economic downturn crippling energy demand would be slow and uncertain.
"Since the market remains oversupplied and given the downside risks associated with the extremely fragile recovery, the conference once again agreed to leave current production levels unchanged for the time being," said the closing statement by OPEC.
"While there are signs that economic recovery is on the way, there remained grave concern about the magnitude and pace of this recovery, especially in the major industrialised nations of the OECD."
Opening the meeting, OPEC's current president insisted meanwhile that members defend their interests when world powers meet for a landmark United Nations summit in December to seal a new accord to fight climate change.
"There is much at stake here for both present and future generations in our member countries," said the current president, Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, oil minister for poverty-stricken Angola.
A recovery of the world economy, he added, "should leave us with more time to address bigger issues facing mankind, notably eradication of poverty, sustainable development and the environment."
Most ministers had given an upbeat view of the oil market as they prepared for the talks, saying crude prices were acceptably high.
But analysts said the OPEC members' final declaration offered a starkly realistic view of the uncertain months ahead.
"They really highlighted how tenuous talk of a recovery is," analyst Jason Schenker of the Texas-based consultancy Prestige Economics told AFP after the meeting.
"It's a white-knuckle year and I think this statement showed the white knuckles."
OPEC, whose 12 members pump 40 percent of the world's oil, agreed in late 2008 to remove a massive 4.2 million barrels of daily output from the market.
A vicious global economic downturn has sapped demand for energy, dragging crude prices from record highs of above 147 dollars in July 2008 to 32.40 dollars in December. They have since recovered to hover around 70 dollars.
This price level "is good for everybody, consumer (and) producer," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, whose country is the biggest OPEC oil producer and its most influential member, ahead of the talks.
OPEC's official daily output quota has stood at 24.84 million barrels per day since January but analysts say that compliance with the cuts has slipped over recent months.
They blame the overproduction mainly on Iran as well as on Angola and Venezuela -- regarded as hawks with a strong desire for stronger prices.
Analysts say most member countries are satisfied with prices in the range of 70 to 80 dollars, enough to fund investment in future production.
"We are probably going to see the price at 75 (dollars per barrel) by the end of the year, probably higher prices early next year," Algeria's oil minister Chakib Khelil told reporters at the start of the meeting.
Botelho de Vasconcelos announced at the start of the talks: "We are optimistic that the darkest days of financial turmoil and economic recession are behind us."
But he added that "there are still great uncertainties" over oil prices, "not only for the remainder of 2009 but also well into the second half of 2010."
- AFP/vm
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