Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said today OPEC would cut oil output again when it meets in December if recent supply curbs failed to balance the market. Oil prices were not a decisive factor, said the oil minister of the world's top oil exporter and OPEC's biggest producer.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided in October to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November, its first formal curbs in over two years, to respond to a 25 per cent slump in oil prices.
"We must look at the impact of the measures decided in Doha, if they are adequate, we will be satisfied, if they are not we will act again and the aim is to bring stability back to the market," Mr Naimi told reporters.
"The (oil) price is not an indicator, the indicator is stockpiles and the excess of supply over demand," he said. "The price is irrelevant, what is important is stability in the market and balance between supply and demand." Mr Naimi had said at OPEC's emergency meeting in Doha in October that the group might need to cut a further 500,000 bpd when it meets next on December 14th in Nigeria.
US crude rose 66 cents to $59.90 a barrel yesterday, drawing strength from a disruption to supply in Nigeria and as a fall in the US dollar boosted other commodities. Mr Naimi downplayed a recent fall in the dollar.