Opec plays down oil output boost
Saudi Arabia has been backing an output boost
Oil cartel Opec is trying to pour cold water on expectations it will boost oil output in the face of record prices.
Ahead of an informal meeting in Amsterdam, Opec ministers are warning that factors such as security concerns, and not shortages, are driving costs.
Industrialised nations fear that high prices could damage the global economy, and have called for action from Opec.
In London, benchmark Brent crude was $37.11 a barrel, down 15 cents, with the New York price at $40.63.
Concerns
Both prices are not far below the 21-year highs marked earlier in May.
Friday's falls are likely to be the result of traders deciding to wait and see what emerges from Amsterdam rather than a sign that the upward pressure is slackening.
I don't think that control (of prices) is in Opec's hands
Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri, United Arab Emirates oil minister
Click here for a graph of oil prices
The fact that US oil has been above $40 a barrel for almost two weeks has triggered concerns in many countries about the potential risk to global growth.
UK Chancellor Gordon Brown has been among them, warning late on Thursday that Opec needed to move "in the next few days".
Others from the Group of Seven rich nations, whose finance ministers meet this weekend, have voiced similar concerns.
Blame
But the suggestion from Saudi Arabia that the Opec quota, currently 23.5 million barrels a day, should rise by 1.5 million barrels has met with little enthusiasm within the organisation.
"I don't think that control (of prices) is in Opec's hands," United Arab Emirates oil minister Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri told Reuters.
"There are many factors behind these prices."
Other ministers suggested that the most that could come out of Amsterdam would be a "symbolic" statement, rather than concrete action.
The argument from Opec members is that straitened supplies are not the only problem.
Instead, demand is shooting up, particularly from China - whose April imports were 26.7% higher than in the previous year.
Also to blame are heightened tensions in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, and bottlenecks in US refineries, they say.
In any case, recent figures show that Opec nations are already over-producing by as much as 2 million barrels a day.
Any increase in production would come almost entirely from Saudi Arabia, since other members are near their maximum output.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3735405.stm
Saudi Arabia has been backing an output boost
Oil cartel Opec is trying to pour cold water on expectations it will boost oil output in the face of record prices.
Ahead of an informal meeting in Amsterdam, Opec ministers are warning that factors such as security concerns, and not shortages, are driving costs.
Industrialised nations fear that high prices could damage the global economy, and have called for action from Opec.
In London, benchmark Brent crude was $37.11 a barrel, down 15 cents, with the New York price at $40.63.
Concerns
Both prices are not far below the 21-year highs marked earlier in May.
Friday's falls are likely to be the result of traders deciding to wait and see what emerges from Amsterdam rather than a sign that the upward pressure is slackening.
I don't think that control (of prices) is in Opec's hands
Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri, United Arab Emirates oil minister
Click here for a graph of oil prices
The fact that US oil has been above $40 a barrel for almost two weeks has triggered concerns in many countries about the potential risk to global growth.
UK Chancellor Gordon Brown has been among them, warning late on Thursday that Opec needed to move "in the next few days".
Others from the Group of Seven rich nations, whose finance ministers meet this weekend, have voiced similar concerns.
Blame
But the suggestion from Saudi Arabia that the Opec quota, currently 23.5 million barrels a day, should rise by 1.5 million barrels has met with little enthusiasm within the organisation.
"I don't think that control (of prices) is in Opec's hands," United Arab Emirates oil minister Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri told Reuters.
"There are many factors behind these prices."
Other ministers suggested that the most that could come out of Amsterdam would be a "symbolic" statement, rather than concrete action.
The argument from Opec members is that straitened supplies are not the only problem.
Instead, demand is shooting up, particularly from China - whose April imports were 26.7% higher than in the previous year.
Also to blame are heightened tensions in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, and bottlenecks in US refineries, they say.
In any case, recent figures show that Opec nations are already over-producing by as much as 2 million barrels a day.
Any increase in production would come almost entirely from Saudi Arabia, since other members are near their maximum output.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3735405.stm
