OPEC sees oil stabilizing at $45-$55, sees no need to pump more

Moscow (Platts)--31Oct2005

OPEC sees no need to raise its crude production next year, when it
expects world oil prices to stabilize between $45 and $55/bbl, the group's top
administrative official said Monday.

     Acting Secretary-General Adnan Shihab-Eldin told a Moscow conference that
demand for its oil was unlikely to grow significantly in 2006. He noted that
OPEC members had offered to supply extra crude to compensate for any supply
shorfall caused by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the southern US in late
August, but that there were no takers for the additional oil. This showed that
there was no need for OPEC to increase production, he said.

     The OPEC official was referring to the cartel's offer to produce its
remaining spare capacity of 2-mil b/d if buyers asked for more oil. The offer
was made when ministers met in mid-September and runs to the end of the year.

     Shibab-Eldin also said OPEC expected oil prices to stabilize in
a $45-$55/bbl range next year, and that OPEC had more than enough production
capacity to meet winter demand.

     "OPEC spare capacity of 2-mil b/d will be more than enough to cover
demand this winter," he said.

     OPEC produced 30.31-mil b/d in September, according to a Platts survey.

--Nadia Rodova, nadia_rodova@platts.com

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