ALGIERS: OPEC nations could further reduce oil output if moves last month to slash production do not bolster plummeting oil prices, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said yesterday.
Khelil, who is also Algeria’s energy minister, said an OPEC report would show by the end of the month whether all the members of the grouping have enforced the daily 1.5 million barrel reduction decided in October.
He said he hoped the production cut would raise and stabilize prices at a level manageable for both oil-exporting countries and consumer nations.
Reasonable prices should range “between $70 and $90 per barrel,” said Khelil, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC countries will “probably continue to reduce their production, in order to maintain a balance between supply and demand, at least through the beginning of 2009,” Khelil said.
This policy is not fully decided yet, and Khelil said further output decisions would likely depend on how markets react to the current cut once it is fully enforced.
