OPEC Badri, 165 million barrels of oil floating in sea

OPEC should be cautious when it meets this month to decide its oil output policy as it needs to balance signs of economic recovery and abundant supplies, the group’s secretary general said on Thursday.

OPEC member countries, which pump more than a third of the world’s oil, meet in Angola on December 22. Several OPEC members, such as Algeria, Kuwait and Qatar, have indicated OPEC may hold output steady.

“We are seeing signs of an economic recovery, largely driven by developing countries such as China and India, yet we still need to remain cautious and take things slowly,” OPEC’s Abdullah al-Badri told Reuters in an email response to questions. “There is no doubt that the oil market remains complex and difficult to gauge. We continue to see price volatility, which makes it difficult to judge what is really happening. Oil supplies are abundant.”

OPEC agreed to curb its output by 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) late last year. It has kept official policy unchanged at meetings this year, but industry estimates show actual OPEC production is gradually rising.

OPEC’s Badri said oil inventories remain above their five year average and there were 165 million barrels of crude oil and products floating at sea, equal to almost two days’ global demand and more than some estimates.

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