Wednesday 12 October 2011Next OPEC meeting to be more harmonious
London, OPEC 's secretary-general said on Tuesday he expected the group to reach a consensus on output policy when it meets in December, after it rattled oil markets when its last meeting ended in acrimony and without a deal.
Abdullah al-Badri also told Insider television that oil prices at or over $100 a barrel were "reasonable," suggesting the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will not rush to adjust supplies.
"There will be a consensus on whatever decision they will take," said Badri "I'm sure OPEC will stay as one group. They are one group now but, yes, we did not have a consensus at the last meeting but I am sure that December's meeting will be positive."
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies raised production unilaterally after failing at the group's last meeting in June to convince other members to agree a coordinated increase to meet a shortfall in supplies from Libya.
The collapse of the meeting and OPEC 's inability to revise its production target last changed in December 2008 raised questions about the effectiveness of the group, which pumps more than a third of the world's oil.
OPEC meets is Dec. 14 in Vienna. Badri said it was too early to say what the group would decide, but he was confident the 12-member group would reach a deal as it has overcome previous disagreements.
"We've been around 50 years. We have in the past very difficult meetings. I don't consider it as a crisis at all."
Badri spoke on the sidelines of the Oil & Money conference, an annual gathering of the oil industry in London.
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CONSUMER CONCERN
Oil prices , which hit a 2011 high of $127 a barrel in April, were trading above $110 a barrel on Tuesday.
"I think the market is balanced. Prices are comfortable. I don't say I am happy or not, but I think they are reasonable," Badri said.
His view contrasted with that of the International Energy Agency, adviser to oil-consuming countries. IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said prices above $100 made economic recovery difficult.
OPEC , like other forecasters, has been lowering oil demand estimates due to weaker economies, and in a monthly report on Tuesday trimmed its demand numbers further. But Badri told reporters earlier on Tuesday he did not expect a double-dip recession.
Oil's rise earlier this year was partly in response to the loss of supplies from Libya, an OPEC member which pumped 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), almost 2 percent of world supply, before the civil war.
Badri, who is Libyan and a former Libyan energy minister, reiterated he expected other OPEC producers to trim their output as Libyan high-quality crude production recovers, and that buyers of Libya's oil would return.
"Libya has some fixed customers in Italy and Spain, in Greece and Germany. Those customers, when they see the Libyan crude is back, they will go back to buy their normal crude.
He told reporters he saw Libya's oil output reaching 1 million bpd in six months and the pre-war rate as quickly as one year, faster than some estimates.
"In six months' time, Libya will produce one million (bpd) and in a year, 15 months or less, Libya will go back to normal production," he said.
