OPEC: oil prices to drop to normal levels

OPEC will strive to guarantee stability of the international oil market and oil prices will eventually return to normal levels, an OPEC official said Tuesday.

In a telephone interview with Xinhua, a spokesman of the Secretariat of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) predicted that international oil prices will continue falling and stay below 50 US dollars a barrel. The pricesmay rebound, but they will be eventually back to normal levels.

He attributed the decline of oil prices to the increase of oil reserves in the United States, the production recovery in the Gulfof Mexico and the lesser impact of a possible strike in oil-rich Nigeria.

On the limited excess production capacity in OPEC member nations, the spokesman said the cartel members still have the capability to increase their output to meet market demand. Three or four members can raise their output immediately.

The 11-member cartel is already pumping out a record high of 30million barrels daily to ensure stability of the global oil markets.

In the past one week, international crude prices declined. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures sank to 50 dollars a barrel and OPEC's oil prices went down to 43.31 dollars a barrel Monday.

Crude oil prices in OPEC plummeted 0.39 dollars to 45.51 dollars per barrel last week, the first drop in the past six weeks.

Source: Xinhua