OPEC
president says group could meet soon if prices extend fall
PLATTS
ABUJA
Petroleumworld.com
03 15 06
OPEC could meet soon if global crude prices remain below the $60/barrel
or move lower, leaving open the possibility of holding a meeting
in Qatar's
capital Doha in April, OPEC president Edmund Daukoru said Tuesday.
"We
agreed to confer if prices should misbehave, in the sense of either
taking a big dip or taking a super hike," Daukoru told reporters
on the
sideline of an energy conference in Abuja.
OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna March 8 sealed a widely expected
deal to
maintain current crude output levels, officially set at 28 million
b/d, and to
meet again June 1 in Venezuela.
Current high oil prices effectively made it impossible for OPEC
to
contemplate cutting production, and the geopolitical concerns
partly
supporting prices were pushed into the spotlight again as Iran's
dispute with
the international community over its nuclear program escalated.
"We
had made the point that if price gets to upper the $60s for West
Texas, we will start to worry about alternatives and also when
it gets too low
to maintain investment," he added. "But right now it
is okay as prices jump
around between the upper $60s and lower $60s."
OPEC Ministers have signified their intention to attend next month's
World Trade Organization Doha round of talks, Daukoru told Platts.
"Most
ministers I know have said they will attend the Doha meeting,"
he said. "We
will use the occasion to interact on developments in the international
market."
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Platts
03 14 06
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