Opec rules out oil output hike

RIYADH – Opec ministers were set to turn to politics on Friday as they hammered out the agenda for a rare summit of the cartel this weekend, an oddity for an organisation that normally insists it has a strictly economic agenda.

Heads of state of the 12-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries were to gather on Saturday and Sunday for a summit that was only the third since the cartel’s formation 47 years ago and which would formalise the return to the fold of Ecuador. The gathering came at a time of tension on world oil markets, with the cartel under pressure to increase its output to help calm record high crude prices that had threatened to breach 100 dollars a barrel for the first time last week.Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said on Friday that prices would remain at current levels until the end of the first quarter of next year, but would not break the US$100 barrier.”I doubt prices will go beyond US$100 because there is plenty of supplies and fears of recession,” he told reporters here.Oil ministers have said that no decision about output will be made at the summit, insisting an increase is unnecessary and that blame for the high prices lies outside the cartel, which pumps 40 per cent of world oil.As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepare to land in the Saudi capital, the focus of the meeting therefore shifts to the future orientation and long-term objectives of the organisation.Before the meeting, Chavez called for Opec to go “beyond the purely energy field” and take on “political and geopolitical objectives.””The fact that we are here means it’s a political event,” Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters on Friday.Besides oil matters, Ahmadinejad is likely to face questions from journalists about Iran’s nuclear programme when he arrives on Saturday along with other leaders.Iran is under renewed pressure over its nuclear programme after the UN nuclear watchdog issued a key report on Thursday saying the country had made some progress in revealing the extent of its atomic work but was still defying Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment.Opec organisers have set “providing petroleum, promoting prosperity and protecting the environment” as the three headline themes of the summit, with the emphasis on the environment coming as a surprise to many observers.This has led to speculation that the cartel’s leaders, pushed by host Saudi Arabia, are set to make a gesture on environmental policy.Opec oil ministers, spearheaded by US ally Saudi Arabia, usually stress that the group is an economic forum to stabilise crude prices and ensure continuity of supply.Nampa-AFPThe gathering came at a time of tension on world oil markets, with the cartel under pressure to increase its output to help calm record high crude prices that had threatened to breach 100 dollars a barrel for the first time last week.Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said on Friday that prices would remain at current levels until the end of the first quarter of next year, but would not break the US$100 barrier.”I doubt prices will go beyond US$100 because there is plenty of supplies and fears of recession,” he told reporters here.Oil ministers have said that no decision about output will be made at the summit, insisting an increase is unnecessary and that blame for the high prices lies outside the cartel, which pumps 40 per cent of world oil.As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepare to land in the Saudi capital, the focus of the meeting therefore shifts to the future orientation and long-term objectives of the organisation.Before the meeting, Chavez called for Opec to go “beyond the purely energy field” and take on “political and geopolitical objectives.””The fact that we are here means it’s a political event,” Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters on Friday.Besides oil matters, Ahmadinejad is likely to face questions from journalists about Iran’s nuclear programme when he arrives on Saturday along with other leaders.Iran is under renewed pressure over its nuclear programme after the UN nuclear watchdog issued a key report on Thursday saying the country had made some progress in revealing the extent of its atomic work but was still defying Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment.Opec organisers have set “providing petroleum, promoting prosperity and protecting the environment” as the three headline themes of the summit, with the emphasis on the environment coming as a surprise to many observers.This has led to speculation that the cartel’s leaders, pushed by host Saudi Arabia, are set to make a gesture on environmental policy.Opec oil ministers, spearheaded by US ally Saudi Arabia, usually stress that the group is an economic forum to stabilise crude prices and ensure continuity of supply.Nampa-AFP