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Abu Dhabi: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is likely to leave output levels unchanged at their Wednesday meeting in Abu Dhabi, as top oil officials and ministers of three member countries said on Tuesday ahead of their conference that the global markets are well supplied with comfortatable inventory levels and blamed speculators for pushing the crude prices higher.
"Market is efficient, stock is very comfortable," said Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah. "In my opinion, there's no need for extra supply."
Venezuela's Minister of Energy, Rafael D. Ramirez, said Venezuela believes there's enough oil in the market.
"All the fundamentals of the market indicate that it is not necessary to put more oil in the market. The prices have fallen more than 11 per cent just in few days...that's clear indication that there's speculation," said Ramirez.
Ramirez said Opec is going to discuss the market situation at its December 5 meeting and look at all the available options, especially in light of a weakening dollar.
"The OPEC decision will have to follow the fundamentals of the market," he said. "The dollar situations have a high impact in the price of oil," Ramirez added.
Dr. Shokri M. Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, said the oil market needs more stability and less speculation. "The prices have dropped because of speculation and profit-taking," he said.
"The market does not need more oil. We think that it is stable. I think, there's nothing that warranties an increase in production," Ghanem added.
Asked if Opec's decision could influence whether crude prices head back toward $100 a barrel or not, Ghanem said: "Contracts for the winter have already been signed...I don't know, it can be anytime. It is up to the speculators," implying that the high oil prices are driven by factors outside Opec's control.
He said Libya's current oil output is 1.75 million barrels per day.
Crude oil futures for January 2008 delivery in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, were hovering around $89 a barrel on Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, shrugging off Monday's lows and eyeing Opec actions.
Oil prices sank to their lowest in more than five weeks on Monday, a fall that could reduce the chances Opec will agree to boost output at its Abu Dhabi meeting.
Oil fell nearly $10 last week from record highs of nearly $100 a barrel, pressured by concerns over the health of the US economy and a recovery in the dollar.
Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi on Monday, upon his arrival in Abu Dhabi for the conference, said that Opec would look at all available data before taking a decision on whether global oil markets need to be pumped in with more supplies from the group.
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