Austria, Vienna, 6 March / Trend corr A. Alaskarov, A. Badalova/ At the 148th OPEC Meeting of Conference in Vienna on 5 March, it was decided in spite of Bush's statement "My advice to OPEC is to understand the consequences of higher energy prices," to retain production of oil at A steady level, Trend 's correspondent reported from Vienna.
Chakib Khelil, Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria and President of the Conference, stated in his opening speech that the market continues to be well-supplied with crude oil. Commercial oil stocks - crude and products - are in line with the seasonal trend and are expected to remain within their five-year average during the traditionally lower-demand season. Therefore, the market should be characterised by stability and not volatility.
The Conference highlighted the economic slowdown in the USA, which, together with the deepening credit crisis in financial markets, is increasing the downside risks for world economic growth and, consequently the demand for crude oil. Further discussion was followed by the ongoing legal dispute between ExxonMobil Corporation and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
The Conference decided that its next Ordinary Meeting will be convened in Vienna, Austria, on 9 September 2008.
The United States' state-run Energy Information Administration (EIA) told Trend that OPEC's oil production in 2009 is forecasted to an average of 31.8 MBD and the world's oil demand will increase in 2008 and 2009 by 1.6 MBD.
The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]