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OPEC Rules Out Oil Output Cut, Venezuelan Minister Says
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has ruled out an imminent oil production cut despite the recent drop in oil prices since the terror attacks on the United States, a senior Venezuelan oil official said Friday.
The OPEC announced this decision after its meeting Thursday in Vienna, Austria. A special meeting is scheduled for November 14 to review market conditions, but the OPEC did not rule out the possibility of cutting supplies before then.
The OPEC has held intense negotiations with independent oil producers like Russia and Mexico to achieve effective cooperation toward market stability, said Venezuelan Energy and Mining Minister Alvaro Silva Calderon.
Although the oil price rose slightly after the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S., last week it dropped 4.23 U.S. dollars to 18.01 dollars per barrel, below the OPEC's 22-dollar benchmark price.
Non-OPEC countries have reiterated their intention of cooperation and are studying concrete measures aiming to recover crude prices, Silva said.
The OPEC's official output target is 23.2 million barrels per day. With its overproduction estimated at 700,000 to 1.5 million barrels a day, it supplies almost 40 percent of the world's oil.
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