Brussels, 10/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - After the first meeting under EU/OPEC energy dialogue, held on Thursday in Brussels (see EUROPE 8965), the president-in-office of OPEC, Kuwaiti Sheik Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, told the press that OPEC was studying a price range for oil at between $30 and 50 per barrel, which would be acceptable to both consumers and producers. “OPEC through all members is studying what will be the new range acceptable to both consumers and producers (…) We hear many, many, many numbers but if we bring all the numbers together we will find that it is between 30 to 50 dollars”, he said. He also gave his assurance that OPEC had the ability to cover market supplies, mainly during the third and even fourth quarter of this year, saying: “There has never been a supply shortage on the market”. “We have had figures that show supply exceeds demand”, Luxembourg Minister for the Economy Jeannot Krecké said. “In the knowledge that supply is sufficient, I believe the market will react”, he added. On the other hand, oil prices do not reflect the law of supply and demand, Mr Krecké asserted. “We believe that there are certain geopolitical factors (…) and a large number of speculative factors and we have decided, together, to rid ourselves of them”, the Luxembourg minister said. Sheik Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah, for his part, believed the rise in oil prices could be imputed to “wrong information and adverse influences on the market”.
Next Wednesday, during a meeting in Vienna, OPEC is expected to study the possibility of raising its official production ceiling in order to appease the market.