OPEC

Technology and retail stocks continue to drive market

OPEC may consider raising production in 2011 in order to meet higher demand, according to the oil minister of Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah al-Attiyah, who spearheaded the Gulf state's crude output expansion in the 1990s and, more significantly led the country's emergence as the LNG capital of the region, has stepped down as the energy minister following his appointment as the Chairman of the Emir's court.

German precious metals refinery group Heraeus reports massive demand for bars and coins, even as ETF trust funds and Comex futures contracts saw considerable profit-taking driven liquidations by institutional traders.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has pledged to make as much as 6 million barrels per day of surplus crude production capacity available in the event of a strong rise in demand or sudden disruption in supply, a Platts release said on Tuesday.

OPEC's leading oil price hawk Iran joined Venezuela and Libya on Sunday to say it saw no need for the cartel to consider raising crude supplies to rein in crude prices now near $100 a barrel.

Global oil prices have risen too high, too quickly but increased OPEC output will not stem the rise as the climb is driven by demand, the chief executive of French oil major Total said on Sunday.

OPEC is ready to act to address supply shortages in the oil market but not to counter price moves caused by speculation, Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri told an Austrian newspaper. The group is monitoring the situation closely, and OPEC will intervene to stabilize the market if the market is imbalanced. OPEC will not intervene because of speculators, he told Wirtschaftsblatt in excerpts of...

Oil prices at $100 a barrel would not harm the world economy and there is no need for OPEC to hold an emergency meeting or add supplies, Libya's top oil official said on Thursday.

Clashes between political gangs rather than attacks on oil facilities are the greatest threat to Nigeria's Niger Delta ahead of April elections and the long-term security of its oil output depends on much more than who wins.

For the U.S., however, the Iraqi plan to buy billions of dollars of weapons will only be small consolation for the dismal turn of events in the last week. Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the fiercest anti-US warlords in Iraq whom the U.S. failed to annihilate, returned to Iraq after years and called for intensification of the war against Washington. That despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost defending an intangible moral high ground as if it were!

Kuwait Oil Council on Monday predicted that oil barrel price to reach $110 in the next few weeks as the global economy recovers fast.

Speculation could push oil prices to rise to $110 per barrel within a few weeks, which may prompt OPEC to raise production, a member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council said on Sunday.

Kuwait and Iran, two of the world's largest crude exporters and prominent members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have reiterated that they don't see the need to raise output to keep rising crude prices under check.

Former Shell Oil CEO John Hofmeister's prediction a fortnight ago that retail gasoline prices would hit $5 per gallon by 2015 has gone viral since then, drawing attention largely on the U.S. drilling policies but also spooking consumers and polarizing analysts in the process.

Oil climbed above $92 on Monday to its highest since October 2008, spurred on by expectations economic recovery will boost energy demand and as market bulls set their sights on $100 a barrel.

Oil extended its rally above $91 a barrel on Monday on optimism the global economic rebound is gathering momentum, which could drive demand growth and send prices above $100 later this year.

Russian oil output rose by 2.2 percent in 2010 to a record 10.1 million barrels per day (505.193 million tonnes) as higher prices prompted the world's top oil exporter to ramp up production at its greenfield sites.

Oil was set to close the year up more than 12 percent, despite a slight decline on Friday, due to a resurgence in global demand, an unusually cold winter and falling inventories.

OPEC output has risen slightly in December as Nigerian supply has increased, a Reuters survey found, indicating the group has yet to boost production substantially in response to prices at a 26-month high.

OPEC output has risen slightly in December as Nigerian supply increased, a Reuters survey found on Thursday, indicating the group has yet to boost production substantially in response to prices at a 26-month high.