VIENNA, 31 January 2005 — OPEC producers agreed yesterday to keep output limits on hold, convinced that oil prices near $50 a barrel are not stifling world growth.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries took little time to settle on no change in supply quotas, despite worries among consumer nations about inflated fuel costs.

Gone are the concerns that dominated in OPEC last year about the impact of rising crude prices on the economic growth that drives demand for its oil.

With inflation in the world’s big economic powers in check and low interest rates still generating above trend growth, group ministers see no reason for cheaper oil.

“$50 oil will not play a big role in slowing up growth of the economy. Some analysts say even $60 oil will play a small role in affecting growth,” said OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Sabah.

“I am comfortable with the market between $45 and $55,” said Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria’s presidential adviser on energy.

OPEC now appears ready to defend oil prices at a floor of about $40 a barrel for US crude, or $30-$35 for a reference basket of OPEC crudes. Ministers agreed to officially set aside their old $22-$28 range for the basket, set in March 2000, but are in no hurry to set a new target, saying prices are too volatile.

“We have to wait until the second quarter of this year to know exactly where the price indicator will head,” said Sheikh Ahmad. “But I believe that $35 is a suitable price as an average price for the OPEC basket of crudes.” Economists agree there is little sign yet of an energy price shock, partly because the US dollar’s decline on currency markets has protected non-dollar importers from the rise in dollar-denominated oil prices.