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	<title type="html"><![CDATA[Crude Oil Futures Trading Forum by Live Oil Prices]]></title>
	<link rel="self" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/feed-atom-forum8.xml"/>
	<updated>2009-09-24T06:19:00Z</updated>
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	<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/</id>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Naimi says OPEC doesn’t need output cut in 2010]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic451-naimi-says-opec-doesnt-need-output-cut-in-2010-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC does not need to cut output in 2010, according to the latest figures on supply and demand, the oil minister of top exporter Saudi Arabia told Reuters on Tuesday.  Demand for Saudi crude was increasing, and this was evidence the world’s economy was recovering from recession, Ali al-Naimi said in a wide-ranging interview, which touched on alternative energy as well as fossil fuel. 

“No, based on the current (demand and supply estimates), there is no need of course, right now,” Naimi said, when asked if OPEC would need to cut supply in 2010. He spoke ahead of the inauguration of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), near the Red Sea port of Jeddah.

“But you never know, this is a moving target, it is a very active market. The world economy seems to be recovering. I hope it will recover fast and therefore it will impact demand. If demand rises of course supply has to match it... Demand for our oil is rising, and so we are - at least I am - convinced that economic growth is started and will continue.” 

Global oil stocks have climbed above the five-year average in defiance of OPEC output curbs that aimed to match supply with a fall in demand following the economic downturn.

Some oil market observers have said the producer group, which pumps more than a third of the world’s oil, would have to cut output again next year to balance the market.

OPEC has held output targets steady since December last year, when it announced the final stage of a record 4.2 million bpd reduction in supply which it enforced with a high level of discipline. The curbs helped the oil price recover to more than $70 from a low of $32.40 in December and Naimi has for several months voiced confidence the economy would recover and oil prices would be strong enough to encourage investment without stifling nascent growth. Prices extended gains on Tuesday after the Naimi interview. At OPEC’s last meeting earlier this month, the minister brushed aside concerns within the oil community about high inventories, saying economic growth was driving the price. 

A relaxed Naimi spoke extensively to reporters on the sidelines of the OPEC talks, but he rarely gives interviews to news agencies.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-24T06:19:00Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic451-naimi-says-opec-doesnt-need-output-cut-in-2010-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Extra OPEC barrels in Europe weigh on Russian crude oil trade]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic449-extra-opec-barrels-in-europe-weigh-on-russian-crude-oil-trade-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A rapid flow of oil to southern Europe from OPEC Countries has softened prices for Russian medium sour crude this week, traders said Wednesday.

The European physical oil market for medium sour crude is diverging. The Russian Urals crude values in northwest Europe have struck an all-time high of 10 cents premium over the North Sea benchmark, while values in the Mediterranean have sunk.

In the south, the Urals grade crude is coming under pressure from an influx of Middle Eastern crude and lower cracking margins, which means the grade was last valued at a discount of around 65 cents against the North Sea benchmark.

Traders said this split could possibly allow for inter-regional arbitrage, with some Urals cargoes from the south moving to refiners in northwest Europe. However, Forties may prove to be a more popular grade with refiners in northern Europe, and may see oil companies releasing barrels from storage.

There are thought to be five fully loaded tankers of Forties crude being used as floatingstorage in Europe, with another one likely to load in coming days.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-23T15:50:58Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic449-extra-opec-barrels-in-europe-weigh-on-russian-crude-oil-trade-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Iranian oil minister appointed OPEC 2011 conference president]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic434-iranian-oil-minister-appointed-opec-2011-conference-president-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[During the 154th OPEC meeting, Iran's Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi has been elected as President of the organization's Conference for 2011, writes PressTV. "The president and the alternate president of OPEC Conference are usually elected on an alphabetical basis annually and hence, Iran's Oil Minister will be the President of the OPEC Conference for 2011, while Iraq's Oil Minister will be the Alternate President," Alternate President Mohammad Ali Khatibi told Mehr News on Friday.

Respectively, Iran's minister will be the Conference Alternate President for 2010, while Ecuador's Oil Minister will hold the Presidency title, he noted following the meeting that was held in Vienna, Austria, on the 9th and 10th of September.

This is while OPEC ministers agreed earlier this week to stick with their output target of 24.845 million barrels a day. OPEC had set the production level last December for its 11 members.

It's the third time this year OPEC has agreed to leave its members' production quotas unchanged, highlighting the group's relative confidence that its output policies over the past year have turned the world oil market in its favor.

"Based on expectations for higher global demand in the next few months, maintaining the output ceiling unchanged seems to be effective in increasing the oil storage capacity of the exporting countries," Khatibi added.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-15T06:28:39Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic434-iranian-oil-minister-appointed-opec-2011-conference-president-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Kuwait and Saudi Arabia 98 percent compliant with OPEC cuts]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic431-kuwait-and-saudi-arabia-98-percent-compliant-with-opec-cuts-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Core Gulf Arab OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are delivering 98 percent of the crude output cuts they have pledged under OPEC deals, Kuwait's oil minister was reported as saying by state news agency KUNA.

The United Arab Emirates was at around 99 percent compliant with its pledges to curb output, KUNA reported Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah as saying on Sunday. The three countries plus Qatar form a powerful grouping within OPEC, pumping nearly half the organization's output. They have shouldered most of the 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of pledged OPEC output curbs.

The Gulf Arab states have stuck most closely to their target output. Overall, OPEC compliance with output curbs has slipped to 68 percent, Sheikh Ahmad said last week. Discipline fell from a record of over 80 percent earlier this year as the oil price rebounded to $75 a barrel in August from a low of $32.40 in December.

OPEC agreed to keep its output targets unchanged at a meeting in Vienna last week, the third time this year that it has opted to keep supply steady. The price of oil has lessened OPEC's concern about weak demand and high inventories.

Kuwait expects the price of oil to fluctuate between $60 and $80 a barrel until the end of 2009, Sheikh Ahmad reiterated.

"Crude oil prices are expected to range between $60 and $80 dollars per barrel until the end of this year, a price accepted by everyone," he said.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-14T07:15:03Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic431-kuwait-and-saudi-arabia-98-percent-compliant-with-opec-cuts-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Oil prices steady as OPEC eyes targets]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic425-oil-prices-steady-as-opec-eyes-targets-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC announced on Thursday that it would keep production quotas at 24.845 million bpd and urge members to adhere to targets, as global demand has yet to return in full.

However, a report from the IEA indicated that demand is recovering more quickly than previously thought, and that OPEC may be playing catch-up as the global recovery gathers steam.

The IEA increased its outlook for global oil demand by nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) for 2009 and 2010, to 84.4 million and 85.7 million bpd respectively.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the increase was surging demand in China, where the Red Dragon’s $587 billion (4 trillion yuan) stimulus plan has resuscitated manufacturing and helped China grow into the world’s largest auto market.

China’s economy grew by 7.9% in the second quarter, and Beijing estimates 8% growth for the year, compared to an expected 3% dip for the United States. Chinese demand for oil this year will grow by 2.8%, according to the IEA.

The rise of China has been a tremendous boon to OPEC – which controls 40% of the world’s oil supply – particularly since the financial crisis has crimped oil demand in developed nations around the world. “We’re looking East more these days,” said Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah.

The IEA expects demand for oil in North America to plunge 4.4% this year. However, that figure is an improvement from last month’s forecast of 5.1%, and could accelerate further as the recovery gains momentum.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-12T05:52:10Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic425-oil-prices-steady-as-opec-eyes-targets-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC committee recommends keeping quotas unchanged]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic422-opec-committee-recommends-keeping-quotas-unchanged-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC should maintain existing output quotas and improve compliance when the 12-member group meets today, the group’s production-monitoring committee recommended.

“We need more compliance” with existing production targets, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed al-Abdullah al-Sabah told reporters in Vienna. “I don’t foresee any cut,” he said, when asked at what price level the group might consider a further supply reduction.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, who represents OPEC’s biggest and most influential producer, said current oil prices are “good for everybody, consumers, producers,” adding to comments from other members of the group pointing to no change in output. All 26 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast OPEC will leave production quotas unchanged for a third time at today’s meeting.

Oil rallied from a low of $32.70 in January to peak this year at $75 a barrel on Aug. 25. Crude for October delivery was trading at $71.07 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:49 a.m. in Singapore. Al-Sabah said current prices are “OK” and said a supply cutback is unlikely in the near future even though the market is “oversupplied.”

OPEC’s Ministerial Monitoring Committee met for an hour yesterday evening at the group’s Vienna headquarters to review data on OPEC oil supply and demand. The MMC, comprising officials from Iran, Nigeria and Kuwait, often recommends a course of action for the full meeting of OPEC ministers, which convenes at 9:30 p.m. local time, after dark because the summit falls in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-09T05:13:39Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic422-opec-committee-recommends-keeping-quotas-unchanged-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Nigeria says OPEC quota decision depends on oil price]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic420-nigeria-says-opec-quota-decision-depends-on-oil-price-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Nigerian Petroleum Minister Rilwanu Lukman said OPEC’s decision this week on production quotas depends on oil price levels, which he said “could be better.”

Asked in an interview in Vienna whether the group will maintain its existing quotas when it meets on Sept. 9 in the Austrian capital, he replied: “could be, but it depends” on prices. There is “a bit of an overhang in the market,” Lukman said, referring to inventory levels.

The crude oil production target for 11 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries bound by quotas is 24.845 million barrels a day. Actual output from those 11 averaged 26.055 million barrels a day in August, according to Bloomberg estimates.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-08T07:27:37Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic420-nigeria-says-opec-quota-decision-depends-on-oil-price-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC to Hold Quota After Oil Reaches $75 Saudi Target]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic415-opec-to-hold-quota-after-oil-reaches-75-saudi-target-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC’s success in more than doubling oil prices since a five-year low in December will probably persuade ministers to maintain production quotas after this week’s meeting.

Reducing shipments beyond record cutbacks last year would endanger the global economic recovery, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ president said last week. Oil rose to $75 a barrel on Aug. 25, the price Saudi Arabian King Abdullah says is fair for consumers and producers.

“OPEC countries will be pleased by the price, which they couldn’t have anticipated back in January,” said Edward Morse, the head of economic research at LCM Commodities LLC in New York. “They won’t seriously consider deepening or extending the cuts at this stage. OPEC has taken a lot of oil out of the market, and it’s going to clear the market up.”

Ministers from Kuwait, Iran, Libya, Qatar and Iraq have in the past three weeks made similar comments to OPEC President Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, signaling they support existing quotas. The group won’t change output at the Vienna meeting, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, citing comments by Iran’s OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-07T04:53:50Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic415-opec-to-hold-quota-after-oil-reaches-75-saudi-target-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC will maintain crude oil production targets]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic410-opec-will-maintain-crude-oil-production-targets-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC will leave oil production targets unchanged when it meets next week in Vienna after prices recovered, the group’s president said.

“We have been seeing slowly a much reduced variation of oil prices,” Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola’s oil minister, said in an interview in Luanda, Angola, today. “This is a sign that the world economy is recovering. Everything shows that they will keep output unchanged.”

Botelho de Vasconcelos’s views chimed with an official from a Persian Gulf member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries who said today the group would probably hold quotas steady to avoid derailing the global economic recovery. The official declined to be identified by name because a final decision hasn’t been made.

OPEC is holding its third meeting of the year on Sept. 9 in Vienna. The group hasn’t altered output targets since it agreed last year to reduce total production for its 11 members with quotas, excluding Iraq, by 4.2 million barrels a day to arrest plunging prices as the world fell into recession.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-03T05:33:04Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic410-opec-will-maintain-crude-oil-production-targets-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC oil output rises in August 2009]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic407-opec-oil-output-rises-in-august-2009-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC oil supply rose in August for a fourth consecutive month due to higher output from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela, a Reuters survey showed on Tuesday.

Supply from the 11 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries bound by output targets rose to 26.20 million barrels per day (bpd) from 26.11 million bpd in July, according to the survey of oil firms, OPEC officials and analysts.

OPEC has agreed to reduce supply by a total of 4.2 million bpd since September 2008. Supply was 1.36 million bpd higher in August than the implied target for the OPEC 11 of 24.84 million bpd, meaning the group lowered output by 2.84 million bpd of the promised curbs.

That gives a 68 percent compliance rate, down from a revised 70 percent in July. OPEC pumps more than a third of the world's oil.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-02T06:55:52Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic407-opec-oil-output-rises-in-august-2009-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC will discuss high oil stocks, Iran says]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic402-opec-will-discuss-high-oil-stocks-iran-says-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Bulging global oil inventories remain a major concern for OPEC member states, even as signs of a possible the global economic recovery grow, and will likely be be a topic when the group meets next week in Vienna, Iran's OPEC governor said Monday.

"Everyone is worried about the current stock levels... for both OECD countries and floating storage," Mohammad Ali Khatibi told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"It may be considered by ministers a policy within one year, maybe a lower or higher period, to bring stock levels back down to normal."

The IEA said in its August report, stocks in developed countries stood at around 61.7 days of forward cover at the end of June, unchanged from the previous month and only just below a peak of 62.4 days at the end of March. Opec members have in the past said they would be much more comfortable if stock levels came back to a five-year average of around 52 days and Khatibi reiterated that.

"The five-year average for OECD stock levels is a good base, anything higher than that is risky," he said. In addition to high stocks on land, millions of of barrels of fuel have been stored at sea.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-01T05:40:22Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic402-opec-will-discuss-high-oil-stocks-iran-says-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC likely to keep oil production steady]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic401-opec-likely-to-keep-oil-production-steady-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC is likely to keep oil production targets unchanged when it meets this month on expectations that demand will strengthen over winter as the global economic recovery gathers pace, a senior Gulf OPEC delegate told Reuters on Sunday.

"According to (the) current circumstances of supply and demand, possible demand during winter and the start of an economic recovery, they (ministers) might keep things as they are until the next meeting," the delegate said.

OPEC, supplier of more than a third of the world's oil, will again call on its members to adhere closely to production quotas when it meets on September 9 in Vienna to set policy, he said. "Compliance will be discussed and emphasised during the meeting," he said.

Last year, OPEC agreed to cut output by 4.2 million bpd, which is equal to about five per cent of daily world demand, from its output levels to prop up slumping prices. OPEC has kept output targets steady to date this year.

Output discipline has declined from a record level of 80 percent early this year to 71 per cent of promised curbs in July as rising oil prices and the prospect of recovering demand may be encouraging members to pump out extra barrels, analysts said.

The fundamentals of supply and demand were currently balanced, and demand was expected to rise during the fourth-quarter and the first-quarter of 2010, the delegate said.

"Fundamentals are good, taking into account the winter approach and signs of recovery of the global economy. Stocks are higher than average but the feeling about the future is very positive," he said.

"In the fourth quarter and the first quarter, demand will pick up. It has already started to pick up."]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-09-01T05:37:57Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic401-opec-likely-to-keep-oil-production-steady-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Russia plans autumn OPEC meeting in Moscow]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic395-russia-plans-autumn-opec-meeting-in-moscow-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Russia has proposed a meeting with OPEC member countries in Moscow in the autumn, Russian news agencies quoted Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko as saying on Thursday.

"OPEC is obviously interested in maintaining, at a minimum, the same level of contact that we had last year," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Shmatko as saying after a government meeting.

The minister said in June that Russia had proposed a joint seminar with OPEC, to be held either in Moscow or Vienna. No agreement has since been struck. OPEC's Vienna headquarters could not immediately be reached for comment.

Russia, the biggest oil producer outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has been reluctant to meet OPEC requests to pump less oil to prop up crude prices.

It appeared to move closer to the body when a barrel of oil cost $40 late last year. Russia's Urals URL-E crude export blend traded above $70 a barrel on Thursday.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-08-28T08:27:23Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic395-russia-plans-autumn-opec-meeting-in-moscow-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC likely to hold oil output in September]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic394-opec-likely-to-hold-oil-output-in-september-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[OPEC the producer of almost 40% of the world's oil, will likely hold output steady at its next meet in Vienna in September amid ongoing market uncertainty, Libya's top oil official said Thursday.

"Volatility is still in the market," Shokri Ghanem, head of the Libyan National Oil Co., told Zawya Dow Jones on the phone when asked what action the group, known as OPEC, is likely to take on Sept. 9.

Wednesday, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said OPEC may rollover a decision because the market situation requires stability to balance demand and supply.

Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi also Wednesday said the group's number two producer would seek to discuss how to address an expected overhang in crude oil supplies in the first quarter of 2010 at the next meeting.

Several officials from OPEC said in recent weeks that they are happy with oil prices around $70 a barrel.

Last week, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Sabah told reporters OPEC should agree to maintain quotas when it meets and that he favors oil prices at $70-$80 a barrel.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-08-28T08:25:55Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic394-opec-likely-to-hold-oil-output-in-september-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Nigeria will not push for output change at OPEC]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic389-nigeria-will-not-push-for-output-change-at-opec-new-posts.html"/>
			<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Nigeria would like to see oil prices remain at between $70-80 a barrel and will not push for production changes when OPEC next meets to consider oil output policy on September 9, its oil minister said on Wednesday.

Rilwanu Lukman said Nigeria was pumping around 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, up from just 1.2 million bpd at the height of violence in the Niger Delta, and that it was therefore meeting its OPEC quota.

"We would like to see the price remain between $70-80. For the production, it is ok as it is for now," Lukman told reporters in the capital Abuja when asked what Nigeria's stance would be at the OPEC meeting in Vienna next month.

Attacks by militants in the Niger Delta on oil pipelines and facilities over the past three years have prevented Africa's top energy producer from pumping much above two thirds of its 3 million bpd installed capacity. But an amnesty offer to gunmen from President Umaru Yar'Adua has brought a lull in the violence.

"At the height of militant activity, oil production dropped to 1.2 million, but now we are doing 1.7 million. We are happy, things are getting better. We hope it will improve more with the amnesty programme in place," Lukman said.]]></summary>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[oil prices]]></name>
				<uri>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/user2.html</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2009-08-27T06:32:15Z</updated>
			<id>http://www.liveoilprices.co.uk/forum/topic389-nigeria-will-not-push-for-output-change-at-opec-new-posts.html</id>
		</entry>
</feed>

