By KUNA
Vienna : OPEC’s President, Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil, said the 13-member cartel which produces 40 percent of world oil would not consider an output hike at its official meeting in the Austrian capital on Wednesday.
OPEC ministers gathering here for an output policy meeting insisted that the cartel was not about to increase oil production, as the price of crude struck a record high of almost 104 dollars.
OPEC’s president’s views were shared by Kuwait’s acting oil minister, Mohammad Al-Olaim, while Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi, whose kingdom is the world’s biggest producer of crude oil and OPEC’s most influential member, refused to address the media on arrival in Vienna.
Khelil, a traditional price hawk, even mentioned the possibility of an production cut, which hard-line producers Venezuela and Iran are backing.
“The conference will study whether to maintain or reduce production,” Khelil said in Vienna, adding that extra supplies were not needed since demand was not about to increase.
The only country capable of pushing through an increase in production to appease consuming countries would be kingpin Saudi Arabia.