Vienna, Austria, Nov. 27
By Altay Aleskerov - Trend:
OPEC member countries have decided to keep oil production quota unchanged at the level of 30 million barrels per day following OPEC's 166-th meeting in Vienna on November 27.
In taking this decision, OPEC member countries confirmed their readiness to respond to developments which could have an adverse impact on the maintenance of an orderly and balanced oil market.
They also noted, that, although world oil demand is forecast to increase during the year 2015, this will, yet again, be offset by the projected increase of 1.36 million barrels per dayin non-OPEC supply. The increase in oil and product stock levels in OECD countries, where days of forward cover are comfortably above the five-year average, coupled with the on-going rise in non-OECD inventories, are indications of an extremely well-supplied market, according to OPEC members' conclusion.
"The prices now are low, but it doesn't mean we need to rush, and we need to wait and see how the market behaves, and we see that the decline in oil prices do not reflect the market fundamentals," said the Secretary of OPEC Abdalla Salem El-Badri at the press conference, following the meeting.
"We will wait and see how the market reacts to such volumes," he said.
Speaking about the production, El-Badri said that OPEC is going to produce 30 million barrels in the first half of 2015.
Answering the question about the falling of the oil prices, and El-Badri said that the decision to maintain the current production level is the answer to the falling oil prices.
Responding to another question about that $100 per barrel is the optimal price for oil barrel, El-Badri said that different countries have adjusted their budgets for different prices. He said there is no minimum or maximum limit for the prices. El-Badri went on to add that some countries have their budgets at $100, while others have it at $70, $60, or even $50.
OPEC countries control 40 percent of world oil supplies. The analysts of the US-based bank JP Morgan say that OPEC's actual oil production in Q3 2014 was 36.5 million barrels per day.
The last time OPEC cut the production and exports in 2008, during the global financial crisis, when world oil prices fell from all-time high $147.27 per barrel to $32 per barrel.
In total, at the time the cartel reduced oil production by $4.2 million per barrel.