OPEC to Maintain Current Oil Production Level

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, June 12, 2003

OPEC to Maintain Current Oil Production Level

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will maintain the current oil production level of 25.4 million barrels per day (bpd) till the cartel's September meeting, said OPEC Chairman Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiya on Wednesday.

At the conclusion of a extraordinary summit which kicked off earlier in the day in the Qatari capital of Doha, the ministers decided there is no need to change current production level, said Attiya, who is also Qatari energy, industry, electricity and water minister.

He added that non-member producers must cooperate with OPEC to maintain current output and avoid price drop.

"All OPEC members would do their best to adjust to the return of Iraqi oil exporters," Attiya said, adding that "they would adjust their production to whatever share Iraqi oil takes in the market and no state is to pay for Iraq's return."

He noted that there would be another OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, at the end of next month to discuss world market developments and take appropriate measures regarding the return of Iraqi oil exports.

As to Iraqi representation in the coming meeting, Attiya said OPEC would invite an Iraqi representative to the meeting once an acknowledged Iraqi government, albeit an interim government, is established.

On Tuesday, Attiya predicted that in the third quarter of this year, Iraq's exports of oil are expected to reach some one million bpd.

The ceiling of this output would eventually range between 2.5 million to 2.7 million bpd, he added.

Attiya denied any US pressure on the Doha agenda, saying there is no such pressure and there never has been.

US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham call some OPEC ministers late Tuesday, but the purport of the phone discussions is not known yet.

Any result coming out of the Doha meetings would be in the best interests of OPEC's member states and non-member states, Attiya stressed, adding that the results would maintain market stability and take consideration into the interests of consumers.

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