OPEC has no intention of increasing production when it meets on September 26 despite high oil prices, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah told AFP Tuesday, September 11. "OPEC has no intention of increasing production," Attiya said in Bahrain. "The time is not right for an increase in production, as prices are at a reassuring level."
Qatar, a major gas producer, has an OPEC quota of 601,000 barrels per day (bpd), the lowest in the 11-nation cartel. OPEC introduced a cut of one million barrels from September 1 to boost sagging prices.
A barrel of the benchmark Brent North Sea crude for August delivery in London rose to 27.43 dollars on Tuesday morning. A barrel of light sweet crude for October delivery closed down at 27.63 dollars in New York on Monday.
"OPEC does not want to provoke a crisis in market supply and it will intervene, if need be, to settle the market," Attiya said, without elaborating. ― (AFP, Manama)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
