OPEC is widely expected to maintain its official oil production quota when it meets this week, with the cartel satisfied with the current level of crude prices, analysts said.
OPEC, whose member countries together pump about 40 percent of the world’s crude oil, will likely keep its official quota at 24.84 million barrels a day when it meets on Wednesday.
“At the next OPEC meeting, changes in policy will not be necessary,” with prices expected to remain at a “reasonable level” of between US$70 and US$80, the cartel’s president, Ecuadoran Oil Minister Germanico Pinto, said on Thursday.
Ahead of the meeting in Vienna — home to OPEC headquarters — the International Energy Agency (IEA) said emerging markets were driving the growth of world oil demand this year, with a big boost from China. However the IEA also warned that demand for oil, a strong indicator of economic activity, would not recover in advanced economies overall this year.
An increase in demand as nations recover from deep recession is being offset by high levels of energy stockpiles, which in turn is preventing prices from pushing far beyond US$80, according to analysts.
“It would be hard to justify further gains from here unless we see persistent stock draws [falls],” VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said.
While OPEC is set to leave its official output quota unchanged on Wednesday, it may pledge to improve compliance with the target level, he said.
Oil prices tumbled from historic highs of more than US$147 in July 2008 to about US$32 in December in response to the global recession, but have clawed back ground on recovery hopes.
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