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More oil from OPEC won't calm troubled markets, Hamli says
LONDON
Petroleumworld.com 10 31 07
Additional oil production from OPEC on top of the 500,000 b/d agreed upon
in September will not calm world markets, still reeling after US light crude
futures blasted to a new high near $94.00/barrel Monday, OPEC president
Mohammed Bin Dhaen al-Hamli said Tuesday."I don't think another 500,000 b/d will calm the market," Hamli said on
the sidelines of the annual Oil & Money conference in London.Oil markets were increasingly being driven by forces beyond the oil
producer group's control, such as "geopolitical events and the growing
influence of financial investors," Hamli said. But if OPEC saw a real,
physical need for more crude, it would act, he added."We will do what we can...to ensure the market is adequately supplied
with crude oil," Hamli said.Qatari oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah and Libya's top oil official,
Shokri Ghanem, participating in the same event, said there was little OPEC
could to to bring prices down.Attiyah, who said he believed most of the world's oil producing nations
were currently pumping "at maximum" levels, said there was no current shortage
of crude and that none of Qatar's customers were asking for more crude."Do you think you need more crude oil? The answer is no, you need more
products," Attiyah said. "Why is oil at $93 today? What has changed? Really, I
have no answer."Ghanem said: "OPEC cannot do much. Increasing the production will not
help."Attiyah, meanwhile, stopped short of ruling out a further increase in
OPEC production this year beyond the new 27.253 million b/d target for the 10
members bound by output agreements and which comes into effect officially
November 1.
Story from Platts 30 10 07For more news, request a free trial to
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