$200 A Barrel Is Possible, Oil Producers Say

Oil price is at above $135 per barrel in early trading today, which escalates tensions and fears over supplies. The price becomes double as last year's price. Meanwhile, oil producers predicted that oil price may end up $200 per barrel this year. how would OPEC react on this issue?

The US has repeatedly called for oil-producing countries to raise output to calm the market but producers blame speculators and the weakness of the dollar for high prices, rather than supply constraints.

Abdullah al-Badri, Opec secretary general, said the cartel saw no problems with the fundamentals of oil supply and demand. "Even if we increase output tomorrow, the prices will not come down."

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Oil Market Brings No Good News At All

What do you expect from the oil market? Are you expecting oil price to at least go down a little bit? Last week yes, it fell down a bit lower. But now, oil price becomes more unaffordable as it already hits near $123 per barrel. What is happening to our oil management sector? the OPEC? Isn't it time to act?

Separately, the U.S. government again raised its short-term price forecasts for crude oil and gasoline. The Energy Department now expects average monthly gasoline prices should peak at $3.73 a gallon in June, while regular-grade gasoline is expected to average $3.52 a gallon this year.

At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas slipped 0.1 cent overnight to $3.61, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

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OPEC will study all possible options, says UAE oil minister

Few days from now, on February 1 to be exact, OPEC countries will meet again to talk and settle problems on oil industry. One of the oil ministers expected already that the organization will discuss and further scrutinize all possible solutions to the present problem of oil industry.


But OPEC exporters, which have repeatedly said that the high oil prices were a result of speculation and geopolitics, appeared to dismiss his call.

OPEC is keeping a close eye on the market and stood ready to pump more when needed, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said in remarks published on Saturday.

Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said on Sunday that the oil market was well supplied and there was no need for the producer group to boost output at its Feb. 1 meeting.

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Iraq's Oil Minister expects higher output this year; lower oil price

Hussain al- Shahristani, Iraq's Oil Minister, is very much positive enough that the current year will bring higher output for their country. He is also expecting for a slightly lower oil price, perhaps, a range from $70 to $80 per barrel. Will his expectations be materialized?

Baghdad is pumping Kirkuk crude from its northern fields to Turkey at a rate of around 480,000 bpd, a shipping source said on Thursday. Pumping had stopped last week due to a power cut.

While some in the industry are skeptical Iraq can sustain a regular flow of oil exports from the north, the Iraqi minister expected improved security to allow higher supplies.

"Although the infrastructure has been neglected for decades...in the oil industry we have managed to protect our pipelines. It's the electricity grid that keeps on being attacked by the insurgents," he said.

"There is a much improved environment for the security. We expect this to improve and allow us to increase our production and exports."

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OPEC recorded 2 weeks drop in oil price

Ask OPEC about oil price and they would immediately say that oil price has gradually slided from $100 per barrel down to around 89 per barrel. OPEC maintained that the oil market is well suppled and they could find ways in lowering its price, as they were proud to announce that they have already started to hit their targets of making oil price stable.



Economists believe worries in the market about the slowdown of the economy in the United States, dragged down by the domestic credit crisis and the depression of real estate market, is the main reason detaining oil prices.

Furthermore, the increase of commercial oil stocks in the U.S. and warmer than average seasonal weather in the U.S. and most areas of Europe are also helping to ease doubts over insufficient supply.

The cartel's special conference on Feb. 1 in Vienna will intensively discuss the current supply and demand in the international oil market.

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OPEC: We have adequate supply of oil!

After the price retreat of crude oil this week, OPEC had immediately announced that the world market has enough supply of oil. Was the announcement true?



The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets on Dec. 5 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, after oil prices had their biggest weekly decline in 2 1/2 years to $88.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. International Energy Agency officials say OPEC needs to pump more to meet the seasonal peak in demand, during the Northern Hemisphere winter.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, who pushed the group to boost supplies at its September meeting, said two days ago that crude inventories are ``very comfortable.'' His Algerian counterpart, Chakib Khelil, said yesterday in Algiers that OPEC will keep output unchanged because there is ``no need'' to increase production.

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OPEC next meeting will discuss sliding dollar

OPEC has released an statement agreeing a timely and adequate oil supplies to the world market. Before the summit ends, the organization also agreed to meet again by December 5 with the falling dollar as the only agendum. The organization is trying to resolute the problems on dollar as it also affects the organization and the oil world market as a whole.




Pricing oil against a currency basket was "not specifically on the agenda" of the finance minister's meeting, he said. Ecuador, which rejoined the cartel at the Riyadh summit after 15 years, backed Venezuela's and Iran's push to have their concerns about the dollar included in the summit communique, Jabor said.

"Other member states discreetly share the same concern," he said declining to elaborate or say what Iraq's position was.

The dollar's drop on global market, including to a record low against the euro, helped fuel oil's rally to a record $98.62 last week. It has also eroded the purchasing power of OPEC members.

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OPEC okays to provide adequate, sufficient oil supplies

Adequate, sufficient and timely.... these were the promises of OPEC during the recent two-day summit held in Riyadh, just to ensure that the world market would never again suffer from oil crisis and related problems. The organization made it sure that the would mean their commitment as an answer to their vision of global poverty eradication.



Fears the United States or its ally Israel could attack Iran, which Washington says is covertly seeking to develop atomic weapons, have helped drive world oil prices to record levels. Tehran denies the charge.

Soaring prices have prompted calls by consumer nations for the exporters' group to pump more crude, but OPEC oil ministers said this week any decision on raising output will be left to a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 5.

Correa told the conference on Sunday he favoured pricing oil in a currency stronger than the dollar. The U.S. currency's drop in the value against other major currencies has helped fuel oil's rally to $98.62 last week, but has also cut the purchasing power of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

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