OPEC head says US$75-80 a barrel a 'good price'
Posted: 16 November 2009 1630 hrs

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ABU DHABI: Seventy-five to 80 US dollars a barrel is a satisfactory price for oil, the president of OPEC told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

"Seventy-five to 80 dollars a barrel is a good price... for the recovery of the world economy," Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola's oil minister, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Gulf energy security in Abu Dhabi.

Oil prices were trading within that range on international markets on Monday.

De Vasconcelos also said the rate of compliance by OPEC members with their production quotas "is around 65 per cent." This rate is satisfactory, he added.

OPEC members will review production quotas during a meeting in Luanda on December 22.

De Vasconcelos said OPEC expects oil demand to rise by 20 million barrels a day (bpd) to 106 million by 2030, but warned of uncertainty in the market over future global economic growth.

"There is too much uncertainty in the market over such matters as future world economic growth levels, consuming country policies and technology," the OPEC chief said in a speech to the conference.

"This makes it almost impossible to devise effective investment strategies for future production capacity, to meet forecast rising levels of demand."

"The latest projections in OPEC's reference case see world oil demand rising by 20 million bpd to 106 million between 2008 and 2030. But these are only projections - the reality may turn out to be very different in an uncertain world."

"So every effort must be made to avoid adding to this uncertainty in an unnecessary way," he added.

He said that one way to minimise the uncertainty is through consumer governments devising measures to ensure transparency and consistency in their policy making, which OPEC had already urged governments to do.

"This is one key area where efforts can be made to reduce uncertainty," he said.

In Asian trade on Monday, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery put on 71 US cents to US$77.06 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for January delivery gained 55 US cents to US$76.86.

- AFP/sc