sarettah
09-19-2005, 10:26 AM
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/18/MTFH90677_2005-09-18_21-40-01_SPI849203.html
OPEC hesitates over more oil
Sep 18 5:32 PM US/Eastern
VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC oil producers on Sunday wavered over a supply increase that would aim to allay consumer country concerns about energy security after Hurricane Katrina pushed crude over $70 a barrel.
Under pressure from importing nations, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries begins a two-day meeting on Monday that could lift output just as fuel demand starts to buckle under the impact of high prices.
U.S. crude has fallen from a record $70.85 a barrel in the three weeks since Katrina tore into U.S. Gulf refineries, losing $1.75 on Friday to close at $63.
"For OPEC the price is still very high," OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Sabah told reporters in Vienna.
He met on Sunday with European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to stress that OPEC wanted to prevent inflated energy costs slowing the global economy.
"We are trying our best to come up with a positive framework to reassure markets about supply and to calm down prices which have started to have a negative effect, even if slightly, on economic growth," the OPEC president said.
Ministers are discussing raising output by 500,000 or 1 million barrels a day. But a third option was gaining ground that would see production left unchanged with a vow to release spare capacity when the market can absorb it.
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OPEC hesitates over more oil
Sep 18 5:32 PM US/Eastern
VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC oil producers on Sunday wavered over a supply increase that would aim to allay consumer country concerns about energy security after Hurricane Katrina pushed crude over $70 a barrel.
Under pressure from importing nations, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries begins a two-day meeting on Monday that could lift output just as fuel demand starts to buckle under the impact of high prices.
U.S. crude has fallen from a record $70.85 a barrel in the three weeks since Katrina tore into U.S. Gulf refineries, losing $1.75 on Friday to close at $63.
"For OPEC the price is still very high," OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Sabah told reporters in Vienna.
He met on Sunday with European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to stress that OPEC wanted to prevent inflated energy costs slowing the global economy.
"We are trying our best to come up with a positive framework to reassure markets about supply and to calm down prices which have started to have a negative effect, even if slightly, on economic growth," the OPEC president said.
Ministers are discussing raising output by 500,000 or 1 million barrels a day. But a third option was gaining ground that would see production left unchanged with a vow to release spare capacity when the market can absorb it.
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