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OPEC might not increase production in coming months: Badri
AFP
VIENNA
Petroleumworld.com 06 21 07
OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri hinted Tuesday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might not boost oil production in the coming months, saying that market fundamentals were currently balanced.
"At the moment prices are around 72 dollars (per barrel) but for the year the average is about 62.57 dollars" in London for Brent North Sea crude, Badri told AFP in an interview at the organisation's headquarters in Vienna, adding "(the) fundamentals are balanced."
"If we see change in the fundamentals and price changes for a reasonable time... of course OPEC will react," he nonetheless added.
On Monday, oil prices reached 72.25 dollars in London, a level last seen on August 28, 2006, while in New York, the barrel price surged as high as 69.15 dollars, the highest point since September 1. Prices dipped a bit on Tuesday.
The oil market is currently under strain owing to low US gasoline reserves ahead of the driving season, when demand for petrol spikes as Americans take to the roads for their summer vacations.
Investors are also worried about a planned general strike and geo-political disruptions in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer and the world's sixth largest exporter.
Meanwhile, Iran did not rule out using oil supplies as a weapon in the standoff with the United States over its nuclear programme, saying Tuesday that Washington never excluded attacking the Islamic republic.
Last year, oil prices surged during the conflict between Lebanon and Israel, approaching 80 dollars per barrel.
Badri refused to say if OPEC would intervene if prices rose again to that level.
"We don't want to see a high price and we don't want to see a low price," he said, without giving more details on the range of prices acceptable to OPEC.
ved/ssw/wai
(Correcting story sent June 19)
AFP 20 1336 GMT 06 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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