OPEC ministers will work to ensure at tomorrow's extraordinary meeting that oil prices remain within the cartel's target range of USD22-28 per barrel, according to Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi. "Tomorrow we will make sure we keep the market where it is in the band," he told journalists. He said that if the cartel had not increased production beyond its quota of 24.5 million bpd in reaction to falling oil production from a strike in Venezuela and the looming war in Iraq earlier this year, "prices would have shot up."
He said that "you have to give OPEC some credit, a very big credit," recalling that analysts had feared as the war in Iraq approached in March that prices could soar to as high as USD100 a barrel. "OPEC is healthy," Al-Nuaimi added. The minister said OPEC is concerned there will be a surplus of oil on the market within the next two to three months unless it takes certain steps, without specifying what these will be. //www.fxcentre.com