Oman's Oil Minister Mohammad bin Hamad al-Romhi urged OPEC member states on Tuesday to respect their output quotas and not to raise oil production unilaterally. Romhi, whose country is not a member of OPEC but coordinates closely with the oil cartel, called on members "to respect the production quotas agreed in June" at a conference in Vienna, the official news agency ONA reported.
The quotas should remain in place because price fluctuations have eased, he said, apparently reacting to reports that some OPEC members were overproducing in an effort to keep prices at a reasonable level.
"Prices will remain at a stable level over the next few months," Romhi predicted, adding that "keeping the barrel price within a band of $22 and $28 is in the interests of producers and consumers."
The oil minister said that Oman, whose own output is around 900,000 barrels per day and which said in June it could not increase production for technical reasons, wanted the average price "to stabilise at $25 for the current year".
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
