MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

OPEC calls for full compliance with agreed supply cuts

The oil cartel OPEC is willing to cut crude output further at a meeting in March, the group's secretary-general said on Monday in London. But he also underlined he would like to see full compliance of members with existing curbs first.

Abdullah al-Badri told reporters in a briefing that OPEC's (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) compliance with existing oil supply curbs of 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) was about 80%, based on preliminary data, higher than some estimates. "If we think we still need more action, I'm sure the conference will take more action to stabilise the market" Badri said, referring to OPEC's meeting to set supply policy on March 15 in Vienna. OPEC's president and oil ministers from member countries Iraq, Venezuela and Iran have also raised the prospect of the group lowering supply further as the global downturn erodes oil demand and pressures prices. But the group still needs to lower supply by about 900.000 bpd in order to be fully compliant with the existing supply curbs of 4.2 million bpd, Badri said. "Let's fulfil that first and then go to another amount if required," he said. "We need to work hard to cut the rest of the amount", he added. Oil has risen to about 40 US dollars a barrel from levels below 34 touched in December, the lowest in more than four years. OPEC officials say the price remains too low to give producers enough income or encourage investment in new supply. Badri, who spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in London, said OPEC members had delayed 35 of 150 planned medium to long-term upstream oil projects to beyond 2013. In addition, he said OPEC lost 356 billion US dollars in revenue from July 2008 to January 2009 as oil prices fell. "That's a stimulus package OPEC member countries have contributed to the world," he said. OPEC member countries and the oil industry have suggested that a stable, harmonious price would be 60 US dollars a barrel.