OPEC: No Need To Raise Oil Output

(AP)  Iran's acting oil minister said Monday he's convinced there are ample supplies of crude on world markets, joining Kuwait and Libya in signaling that OPEC will maintain its current output targets at this week's meeting.

Arriving in Vienna on the eve of a meeting that analysts said was unlikely to result in higher production quotas for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Gholam Hossein Nozari suggested the 12-nation cartel felt little pressure to loosen its taps.

With the summer driving season over, and demand for gasoline and diesel fuel slackening, OPEC was almost certain to maintain its official output quota of 25.8 million barrels a day.

"There is enough crude in the market," Nozari, former head of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co., told reporters.

Kuwait's acting oil minister, Mohammed Abdullah Al-Aleem, also said he believes there is plenty of oil to meet world demand and no compelling reason to boost production at Tuesday's meeting - echoing earlier comments by Libya and OPEC's secretary general, Abdalla Salem El-Badri.

"There are no strong justifications for an output increase," Al-Aleem said in a statement Sunday, adding that he felt global markets were "very close to stability."

But analysts said that could change quickly if prices already hovering around $75 a barrel edge much higher, or if supplies tighten with the approach of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery lost 62 cents to $76.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Europe. October Brent crude fell 53 cents to $74.54 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

"OPEC faces a real dilemma," said John Kingston, global director of oil at Platts, the energy research arm of McGraw-Hill.

Kingston said the cartel, which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude, must balance projections of a tight market in the next few months against concerns about the crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage industry and worries "that a significant slowdown in demand could be around the corner."

Subprime mortgage lenders have cut loans to prospective U.S. home buyers, feeding a housing slump that has stoked fears among energy investors of a wider economic slowdown and reduced demand for oil and gasoline.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency has urged the group to raise crude output, arguing that global demand is likely to outstrip supply with the approach of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Al-Aleem said the cartel would be discussing "all indicators that concern the international oil market.

OPEC already is quietly pumping over its official output target, Platts said in a survey released Friday.

Production by the 10 cartel members that adhere to the quota "has been steadily creeping up over the summer" and is now about 1 million barrels a day over, it said. Other estimates suggest the 10, which exclude Angola and Iraq, are pumping closer to 30.3 million barrels a day.

Analysts said an increase could come before the next OPEC meeting Dec. 5 in the United Arab Emirates if crude prices move closer to $80 a barrel, winter comes cold and early or a hurricane knocks out a key refinery in the Gulf of Mexico.

Crude hit a record $78.77 a barrel in early August on the Nymex. Many market-watchers see $80 as the new threshold.

"$80 is the mark they'll be looking at," said Eshan Ul-Haq, chief analyst at PVM Oil Associates in Vienna.

John Hall, of London-based John Hall Associates, said he thinks prices are US$15 higher than they ought to be.

OPEC, he contends, is being "a little bit greedy."

The 12 OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

By Associated Press Writer William J. Kole

[rudy654-2009]

The days of gas much below $2 are over until we can collectively agree on a viable alternative (other than Ethanol) that we can quickly put into use. Posted by olebd at 11:44 AM : Sep 10, 2007

The sad thing is that we have developed into the automobile culture, with homes in one place, work and businesses in another and highways to connect them all. Many people have to drive an hour or more to get to work as living close by is too expensive. So, they are especially dependent on gas, and have few choices for alternatives. But this was the way they wanted it since the 50s. The automobile culture was set up to make us dependent and provide huge profits to big oil. They have been very, very successful.

[sharncedar]

A forward-thinking president and leadership would come up with a new doctrine on oil, that is is a World Critical Resource or some nonsense like that, and therfore belongs to the whole world rather than the particular nations that happen to own the land above it. Then we break OPEC, outlaw it on the basis of restricting access to a World Critical Resource which belongs to the whole world (;) ie the big corporations). this would clarify our policy in Iraq for example.

But we have stupid leaders, leaders that are even very stupid and bad at stealing or lying.

[olebd]

Now that we are going to allow thousands of Mexican trucks on our road, our supply of oil will be pinched even further.

The days of gas much below $2 are over until we can collectively agree on a viable alternative (other than Ethanol) that we can quickly put into use.

And as usual, Bush will do nothing.

[lochlan-2009]

Welcome, to the new fixed price of gasoline. The 2.50-3.00 range.

[perceptions1]

We have not used our last drop of oil or at least not just yet!
However, the last drop of oil is not the problem, the problem starts when investors think we have passed the top of the cycle.
Combined with acceptance that the Baby Boomer Bust is real and the herd mentality kicks in and like "Humpty Dumpty", all the "central bankers" come tumbling down!
It really is all about perceptions!
The moment that reality hits home and the long downward slide comes into view, so the house of cards will collapse.
Where is Oil really?
There has been very little in the way of big Oil discoveries or new oil refineries, throughout the world, for 30 years.
If this was simple economics and there was plenty of oil, then money would simply have poured in, new fields would have been found and new refinery capacity would have been built.
Instead, the price of a barrel of oil has gone from $10 to $78, in just a few short years.
In case there is still any doubt over the size of the oil problem, consider that transport is only a part of what oil provides to the global economy. Plastics, Medicines, Chemicals, the list is endless that are dependent on oil.
When historians look back, they really will say, "did they just burn all that oil".
Let me say for those historians, Peak oil is now history, it''s time has passed and we will now go forward into a future of unknowns.
Good luck and watch the debt!

[killtheliars]

Here is an idea. For every illegal alien from Mexico living in the U.S. we want Mexico to supply us at no charge 1 barrel of oil per day. This would be a win win for the U.S., Mexico would either not be willing to take the financial hit and would start severly punishing those who sneak into the U.S., or we would get an increased supply of oil at no cost, therefore underminding OPEC.

[rushman71]

OPEC, he contends, is being "a little bit greedy."

REALLY?!?!?!?! NO SHIIT!!!!