Luanda -- Oil ministers arriving in Luanda, Angola, and industry researchers said the world's dominant oil cartel would leave production levels unchanged for now.
Representatives of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are set to begin a summit meeting Tuesday. While arriving in Luanda, OPEC's Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said there was "consensus that there is no change. If you look at the price, it is very comfortable."
Representing OPEC's largest exporter, Ali Naimi of Saudi Arabia said, "the current prices is wanted by all. We are not alone … but also those with alternatives and oil difficult to extract," The Financial Times reported Monday.
Consultants at PFC Energy in Washington said production would remain steady "for the moment," while warning a drop in demand and high supplies in 2010 might trigger a production cut of up to 1 billion barrels a day.
OPEC members last cut production in December 2008 by 2.2 million barrels a day to prop up prices that had fallen from $147 per barrel in July to lower than $40 per barrel by January 2009.
Prices have since risen steadily, reaching a peak for the year above $80 per barrel and hitting $75.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday morning.
