Libya's top oil official said Wednesday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries won't take action in their March meeting in Vienna if crude oil prices remain between $70-90 a barrel.
Libya
's top
oil official said Wednesday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
won't take action in their March meeting in
Vienna
if
crude oil prices remain between $70-90 a barrel.
"As long as they (oil prices) are under $100 there is no need for action
and we will see it as volatility, not a trend," Shokri Ghanem, chairman of
Libya
's
National Oil Co. told Zawya Dow Jones by telephone.
"If oil prices are at $70-90 there will be no action in March," he
added.
OPEC left production targets unchanged at its latest meeting in
Angola
's
capital
Luanda
on
Dec. 22. The group's next scheduled meeting is due to be held in
Vienna
on
March 17.
Ghanem said he expects price volatility to reach up to $90 in the first quarter
because of speculation and the cold weather in
North
America
and
Europe
, as well as a slight pick up
in the global economy.
"Volatility is expected to increase prices to $85-90 in the first
quarter--forces driving the volatility are speculation, the cold weather and
the economy picking up, but it shouldn't be taken as a trend," Ghanem
said.
Crude oil futures stayed above the $80 a barrel mark Wednesday as the market
awaited fresh weekly data from the
U.S.
to
show a drop in distillate stocks, confirming a rise in heating oil demand amid
low temperatures.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in
February traded at $81.73 a barrel at 1030 GMT, down 4 cents. February Brent
crude on
London
's ICE
Futures exchange was down 12 cents to $80.47 a barrel at 1015 GMT.
"OPEC will continue to monitor the market and see if the recent volatility
constitutes a real trend. If it reaches $100 then there could be reevaluation
of the situation and OPEC may take action but at present there is no
need," Ghanem said.
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