RIYADH: The Council of Ministers yesterday favored an oil price of $75-80 per barrel, which they called a fair price. They also agreed to an OPEC decision to keep its output ceiling unchanged.

The Saudi Cabinet reviewed the results of the May 28 OPEC meeting and said OPEC’s move, which helped drive crude prices above $68 a barrel in London trading yesterday, would not have a negative impact on the recovery of the global economy.

Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet meeting endorsed the protocol related to preferential trade agreements among the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the largest bloc of Muslim countries in the world.

Participating countries will eliminate their nontariff barriers on products, which are subject to tariff reduction. No new nontariff barriers will be introduced, nor will those already applied be increased on products that are subject to tariff reduction, the protocol said.

The Cabinet ratified the extradition treaty with Spain and authorized the second deputy premier and minister of interior or his deputy to sign a similar agreement with Morocco after talks with Moroccan officials.

The meeting ratified another agreement between the King Abdul Aziz Museum and Sudan’s National Archives signed in Riyadh last year. It also approved an air transport accord with Japan.

Speaking about other decisions taken by the Cabinet, Khoja said the meeting approved the establishment of a new insurance company, the Amana Cooperative Insurance Company.

King Abdullah earlier briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Riyadh on Sunday. The Cabinet said the Yemeni president’s visit reflected the strong relations between the two Arab neighbors.

King Abdullah expressed his satisfaction over decreasing seismic activity in Madinah and Tabuk provinces and hoped life there would soon return to normal.

The Cabinet approved the appointment of Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Asheikh as undersecretary at the governorate of Al-Jouf, Abdul Aziz bin Saleh Salamah, media adviser at the Ministry of Culture and Information, Fahd bin Saleh Al-Ghoneim, assistant undersecretary for technical affairs at the National Guard, and Ali bin Mohammed Al-Badr director general of administrative and financial affairs at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.