Opec to proceed with output cut

CAIRO – Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah yesterday said Opec’s decision “so far” was to proceed with an oil production cut of one million barrels per day planned for April 1.

“So far yes, he have this position,” he told reporters in Cairo when asked whether he was confident that the 11-member oil cartel will go ahead with a decision taken last month, at a meeting in Algiers, to reduce on April 1 its production ceiling from 24,5 million bpd to 23,5 million bpd. He said no Opec member has officially submitted so far a proposal to delay the cut, which was decided because of fears that oil prices could crash in the second quarter because of lower demand, as the winter season ends in the northern hemisphere.Attiyah was speaking at the end of a two-day gas exporters’ conference in the Egyptian capital, also attended by ministers and officials from fellow cartel members Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela and United Arab Emirates.He renewed Opec’s official position that the current prices, near US$37 per barrel, are not due to a shortage of supply in the oil market, but rather to “psychological factors and geopolitics,” a reference to the political problems of Venezuela and Iraq.- Nampa-AFPHe said no Opec member has officially submitted so far a proposal to delay the cut, which was decided because of fears that oil prices could crash in the second quarter because of lower demand, as the winter season ends in the northern hemisphere. Attiyah was speaking at the end of a two-day gas exporters’ conference in the Egyptian capital, also attended by ministers and officials from fellow cartel members Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela and United Arab Emirates.He renewed Opec’s official position that the current prices, near US$37 per barrel, are not due to a shortage of supply in the oil market, but rather to “psychological factors and geopolitics,” a reference to the political problems of Venezuela and Iraq.- Nampa-AFP