OPEC is taking its time in increasing output quotas by an additional 500,000 barrels per day due to global petroleum market fluctuations, a spokesman for the oil producers’ cartel was quoted on Sunday as saying.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries earlier this month agreed to raise production quotas by 500,000 bpd and said it would consult on whether to increase them by a further 500,000 bpd if prices continued to rise.
“Oil prices have witnessed fluctuations on world markets in the past two days, which prompted the organization to take its time in implementing the second increase,” Abdel-Rahman al-Khreiji told Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA in Vienna.
The spokesman echoed recent remarks from OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah, Kuwait’s energy minister, that the time had not come yet to hike production quotas further.
Khreiji said OPEC will monitor petroleum prices in the coming few days and “if it finds that there is a need to interfere, the cartel president will consult with the remaining ministers to specify a date for implementing the new increase.”
“Pumping this increase is subject to prices remaining at levels they had reached during the OPEC meeting in Isfahan, Iran on March 16 at about $55 to $56 per barrel,” he said.
Khreiji said that despite OPEC’s decision at its March meeting to boost its output ceiling by 500,000 bpd, several factors were pushing oil prices upwards, including global refining problems and speculation on world markets.
“These two factors are still impacting oil prices,” he said.
World oil prices rose sharply on Thursday after a deadly explosion at the third largest refinery in the United States triggered worries over gasoline supplies.
NYMEX crude for May delivery settled up $1.03, or 1.9 percent, at $54.84 a barrel on Thursday.
Khreiji said that by the end of the year OPEC would have the capacity to provide some 3 million bpd extra if need be, KUNA added.
Khreiji told KUNA that Kuwait will host in mid-May a joint workshop organised by OPEC and the International Energy Agency as part of a dialogue drive with energy-related agencies and bodies to discuss ways to stabilise world oil markets.
OPEC also plans to hold an open dialogue with the European Union in Brussels on June 9 on similar issues, he said.
