Oil supply adequate, no calls for OPEC meet
June 8th, 2008
Reuters
Global oil supplies are adequate and there are no moves within OPEC to hold an emergency meeting to discuss record oil prices, Libya's top oil official said on Sunday.
"I think there is enough oil in the market, I did not hear anybody calling for a meeting," Shokri Ghanem, head of Libya's National Oil Corporation, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
U.S. oil surged nearly 9 percent to a record above $139 a barrel on Friday. Ghanem said he expected the price to continue rising.
"I think it will go higher," said Ghanem, who is also head of Libya's OPEC delegation. "That is a trend that will continue for some time."
Oil prices were rising due to reasons other than fundamentals such as speculation and concern over political tension in the Middle East, he said.
Consuming countries have called for more supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to help ease high prices, but OPEC officials blame factors beyond their control for oil's rally.
OPEC, supplier of more than a third of the world's oil, was next scheduled to meet on September 9 to discuss oil policy.
Oil was becoming more difficult and costly to produce, and global supplies were nearing their peak, Ghanem said.
"The easy, cheap oil is over, peak oil is looming," Ghanem said.
Ghanem said last year that it may not be possible to boost global supply beyond 100 million barrels, from about 87 million bpd now.
