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OPEC leaves output quotas unchanged

10 September 2009 09:35 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. OPEC said it will keep oil production quotas unchanged, banking on a recovery in the world economy to maintain prices near todayâ€™s $71 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to maintain total production quotas at 24.845 million barrels a day, and will urge members to adhere to their targets, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said at a press briefing. Itâ€™s the third time in 2009 the group has met without changing output.

The producer group, which accounts for about 40 percent of global crude supply, had been expected by analysts and most ministers to keep output unchanged after prices rallied. Oil has gained 61 percent this year, last month reaching the $75 level identified by Saudi King Abdullah as satisfactory for consumers and producers.

Crude oil advanced for a fourth day and has gained 62 percent this year. The contract for October delivery climbed as much as 94 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $72.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

OPEC agreed late last year to cut production targets by 4.2 million barrels a day after prices crashed more than $100 a barrel from a record set in July 2008. Oil dipped to $32.40 in December before recovering this year. In the past five months, production has risen from the 11 OPEC members bound by quotas.
The 11 members bound by quotas pumped 26.055 million barrels a day in August, according to estimates in a Bloomberg survey, which indicates quota compliance of about 71 percent.
World oil demand is expected to rise 1.6 percent next year to 85.25 million barrels a day, according to a report last month by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, led mainly by gains in developing nations.
OPEC members will make $559 billion in net sales from crude exports this year, down 42 percent from 2008, the U.S. Energy Department reported. The figure was little changed from last monthâ€™s forecast of $555 billion. OPEC made $971 billion last year and is forecast to make $675 billion in 2010.
OPEC will meet next in Luanda, Angola, on Dec. 22, and again in Vienna on March 17 next year, the group said.