Headlines
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Ahead of OPEC meeting crude hovers around 60$/b
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Gold remains high due to dollar weakness
Brent and Distillates
On Monday oil prices fell slightly ahead of OPEC meeting later this week shedding some of the previous session's gains.
Consumer nations on Sunday urged producers to keep oil prices stable or risk derailing a fragile global economic recovery, as top exporter Saudi Arabia forecast prices eventually moving towards 75$/b.
As OPEC meeting in Vienna on May 28 comes nearer many cartel’s ministers like to express their stand to the current market development. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said OPEC would "probably stay the course" as he forecast a pick up in demand and prices eventually rising toward 75$/b. Naimi also said he was satisfied with compliance to quotas by OPEC members. A senior Gulf source has said the group would stick to its current targets, but stress the need for full compliance with them.
Oil markets are currently oversupplied, but it is still too early to decide whether OPEC needs to cut production, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Sunday. He said OPEC's objective is to see oil prices at around 60 $/b this year and at 70$ next year. Algeria's oil minister said OPEC was unlikely to cut output amid a weak global economy, warning compliance with previous supply cuts had slipped in April and needed to be tightened first.
On the contrary to Venezuela Iran's OPEC governor sees oil market not in balance and the producer organisation's work is "incomplete". The comments by Mohammad Ali Khatibi made clear again that Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, believed that OPEC needs to reduce output further to help boost the market.
Investment in oil and gas exploration and production this year is seen falling 21 %, i.e. almost 100 bln.$, due to the economic crisis, the International Energy Agency said. The IEA also expects global power consumption to fall as much as 3.5 % this year -- the first annual contraction since the end of World War Two.
Mexico's faltering crude oil output should begin to recover next year or in 2011, Energy Minister announced. Mexico, whose oil exports plunged 18 % in April to levels unseen since 1990 outside hurricane seasons hopes to see its crude oil output rise to 3 mln.b/d by 2015.
China's annual growth in the apparent consumption of crude oil is likely to slow to 3.9 % from 5.1 % in 2008 while net crude imports are expected to grow 6.2% and net oil imports 5.3 %.
