Badri says markets balanced, oil prices comfortable

By Margaret McQuaile, Joel Hanley and Robert Perkins in London

October 11, 2011 - World oil markets are balanced and prices are comfortable at current levels, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla el-Badri said October 11.

"The market is balanced. The price at this time is comfortable," Badri, told journalists on the sidelines of the annual Oil & Money conference in London. "Things are quiet. We are not panicking."

Oil prices have fallen in recent weeks as concerns about the global economy in general and the eurozone area in particular have intensified.

North Sea Brent crude futures last week settled below $100/barrel for the first time since February, well below the 2011 intra-day peak of $127.02/b recorded in April.

At 1114 GMT, Brent futures were trading down 77 cents at $108.18/b.

Addressing the conference later, Badri pointed out that OPEC no longer had an oil price target and that the $75-85/b level embraced by some member countries a few years ago had not been formally adopted by the group.

"We were talking $75-85/b...and that was not really adopted by OPEC. It was really an idea that maybe $75-85/b is a fair price," he said.

Industry costs have risen over the past few years, he said. "What we said four to five years ago is not really valid any more."

He also stressed that, while OPEC had used a price of $85-95/b for its medium-to-long-term projections, this price range was "only an assumption."

Badri, a former Libyan oil minister, said the North African OPEC member was on track to restore crude production to an interim level of 1 million b/d in six months time and should achieve pre-uprising levels of nearly 1.6 million b/d within a year or 15 months.

Badri didn't give a level for pre-uprising production, which had been running at close to 1.6 million b/d before the start of the rebellion against the regime of Moammar Qadhafi in mid-February.

"I said before...that in six months time Libya will produce 1 million b/d," he said.

"In a year, 15 months or less, Libya will go back to normal production," he added. "There is not much damage to oil facilities and the [National Oil Corporation] and the companies are moving fast to come up with a million in six months and then go back to normal production in 15 months or less."

"Now Libya is on track and the market must be ready to receive the Libyan crude," he added.

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