World oil prices are set to fall to $21 per barrel on average in the autumn, a key OPEC official told the Austrian daily Kuriertoday.
"The price of oil is undoubtedly under pressure and could slip to $21-22 dollars in the autumn," said OPEC deputy secretary-general Mr Shokri Ghanem.
Oil prices fell heavily late last week, slipping below $25 a barrel for the first time since early April, as markets reacted to a slump in US demand and the resumption of Iraqi exports. The exports had been suspended for five weeks due to a row over proposed modifications of UN sanctions against Baghdad.
OPEC's benchmark average price of seven world crude blends, to which Mr Ghanem was referring in his price forecast, stood at $23.53 according to OPEC today.
The 11-member oil-producing organisation held two meetings in quick succession in June and July to respond to the Iraqi oil suspension but left its output levels unchanged at both meetings.
Their next meeting is scheduled for Vienna on September 26th, but OPEC countries have not ruled out allowing their so-called price-band mechanism to adjust their output if prices slump outside their target band of $22-28 a barrel.
Under the mechanism, production is automatically increased by 500,000 barrels if crude prices stay above $28 for 20 working days and is cut by 500,000 barrels if it slumps below $22 for 10 working days.
AFP