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CAIRO: OPEC heavyweights led by kingpin Saudi Arabia on Saturday appeared united in their support for maintaining production quotas, saying the oil price is satisfactory and the market is stable.
All oil ministers of Arab countries members of OPEC attending a meeting in Egypt said there was no reason why the producer cartel should change its production quota at a meeting later this month in Angola.
"Everything is so good now, we don't have to think very hard," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in Cairo, reflecting an agreement among OPEC members to keep production quotas unchanged at the December 22 conference.
"The market is stable right now, volatility is minimum and everybody is happy with the price. It is in the right range," said Naimi, whose country is OPEC's leading producer and exporter.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah echoed him.
"There will be no increase in production whatsoever," he said, adding he believes there is a consensus among all OPEC members to maintain status quo.
OPEC cut 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of its production quotas in December 2008, bringing down the total output of the 12-member cartel - excluding Iraq - to 24.84 million bpd.
It took the measure to support flagging oil prices, which slumped from historical highs above US$147 a barrel in July 2008 to just above US$30 after a sharp decline in demand due to the global financial crisis.
Oil prices have rebounded strongly over the past months and are currently ranging between US$70 and US$80 a barrel. In October, prices jumped above US$80 a barrel before easing.
Crude prices tumbled on Friday in volatile trade, succumbing to a stronger dollar following an improved US jobs report picture.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, fell 99 US cents to US$75.47 a barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January dropped 84 US cents to settle at US$77.52 a barrel.
It was the third straight losing session for the New York futures contract.
Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem said there are no objections among OPEC members to a production rollover in Angola.
"I don't think there are objections," to maintaining output quotas, he told reporters.
Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah also said OPEC will roll over current production levels but will monitor the market in 2010.
"I believe the decision will be to maintain the current production levels and then wait until 2010," to assess the situation, Attiyah said.
Arab ministers said oil price was satisfactory though Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said it is "a bit low".
The ministers, however, differed in their assessments of production compliance among OPEC members.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar said compliance was good, while Kuwait and Libya demanded that OPEC members stop overproducing.
The Kuwaiti oil minister said compliance has dropped to 60 per cent.
"There is no compliance. It has dropped to 60 per cent and we want it to be at least between 65 per cent and 70 per cent," said Sheikh Ahmad.
A lack of compliance in quotas has led to oversupply, the ministers of Kuwait, Libya and Algeria said.
But Naimi said that he was not worried about high levels of inventories because they are "coming down".
According to the International Energy Agency, current production of OPEC minus Iraq stands at 26.48 million bpd - about 1.64 million bpd higher than the official quota.
- AFP/sc
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