Opec to wait till March to measure cut impact

ABU DHABI – Opec will wait until March to gauge the impact of an output cut implemented on February 1 before deciding on any further action, Qatar’s Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said yesterday.

“It is too early to say and we have to wait for a few weeks to see how the market will stabilise,” Attiyah told reporters in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. “Prices now are fluctuating and dropped dramatically in the last few months because of the very mild winter and now it (the oil price) has come back again.We will see from now until March and then we’ll decide,” he said.Attiyah said he believed all members were sticking to Opec’s output cuts and saw no need for an emergency meeting of the cartel, which pumps over a third of the world’s oil.Opec is cutting supplies in two steps – by 1,2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November 1 and 500 000 bpd from February 1.Having hit an all-time high of US$78,40 a barrel in July, when fighting flared in Lebanon, oil tumbled below US$50 on January 18 because of the mild northern winter and a shift in speculative investments.But prices have rallied since, and steadied above US$59 yesterday on forecasts of more cold weather in the United States and concern over supply from Iran and Nigeria.Attiyah also said Qatar, which has the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves after Russia and Iran, saw no need for an Opec-style cartel of gas producers, an idea floated last week by Iran’s supreme leader.Nampa-Reuters”Prices now are fluctuating and dropped dramatically in the last few months because of the very mild winter and now it (the oil price) has come back again.We will see from now until March and then we’ll decide,” he said.Attiyah said he believed all members were sticking to Opec’s output cuts and saw no need for an emergency meeting of the cartel, which pumps over a third of the world’s oil.Opec is cutting supplies in two steps – by 1,2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November 1 and 500 000 bpd from February 1.Having hit an all-time high of US$78,40 a barrel in July, when fighting flared in Lebanon, oil tumbled below US$50 on January 18 because of the mild northern winter and a shift in speculative investments.But prices have rallied since, and steadied above US$59 yesterday on forecasts of more cold weather in the United States and concern over supply from Iran and Nigeria.Attiyah also said Qatar, which has the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves after Russia and Iran, saw no need for an Opec-style cartel of gas producers, an idea floated last week by Iran’s supreme leader.Nampa-Reuters