UAE Minister says Opec will meet demand

OPEC's fundamental policy of ensuring that the market remains well supplied has not changed and will not change when OPEC ministers meet in Vienna on September 9, UAE Minister of Energy Mohammed bin Dhaen Al Hamli said.

"However, it is fair to point out that the determining factor behind any decision on production levels is whether or not the market is well supplied. Commercial crude oil stock levels in OECD countries are within the five-year average level which indicates that the market is well-supplied," remarked Al Hamli who will lead the UAE delegation to the meeting in Austrian capital. He said the upcoming meeting (149th Meeting of the Opec Conference) today will discuss production targets and production levels in the next few months and it is not possible to predict the outcome of the meeting. Asked about his expectation for oil prices until the end of the year, Al Hamli said: "It is virtually impossible to predict oil prices because they are set by international oil markets with little or no influence from producing countries." Markets, he explained, continue to be driven by the same factors – financial speculation, geo-political concerns and adverse weather events as well as fundamental demand and supply factors. "The recent decline in prices simply shows that the oil price had risen too high and too fast." Commenting on suggestions that Opec production in the first quarter of 2009 could be as much as 1.5 million barrels per day above the call on Opec crude, he said: "Our policy is to constantly monitor supply and demand trends and to respond accordingly. The call on Opec crude in 2009 will depend largely on emerging macroeconomic trends and we are closely following worldwide economic growth indicators." He ruled out views that an expected fall in oil prices would affect investment in increasing long-term oil production capacity.
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