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This is an archive article published on September 2, 2004

OPEC to hike output ceiling to match supply

OPEC is set to raise its formal oil output ceiling to reflect actual supply when it meets on Sept 15, a senior OPEC official based in the Mi...

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OPEC is set to raise its formal oil output ceiling to reflect actual supply when it meets on Sept 15, a senior OPEC official based in the Middle East said on Wednesday.

He declined to specify the volume of the increase, but implied it would be about 1.5 million barrels per day (BPD), the amount the cartel is now pumping beyond its formal 26 million BPD ceiling. ‘‘OPEC will raise its ceiling in Vienna, but the new production level will be decided at the meeting,’’ he said. ‘‘The increase will allow the official ceiling of OPEC to reflect actual production of members.’’ He reckoned the 10 OPEC producers bound by quotas are now pumping ‘‘almost at full blast’’ at 27.5 million BPD. Delegates in the OPEC suggested the cartel could raise its ceiling by one to two million BPD. But even as producers pump close to flat out to meet rocketing demand growth, oil prices remain some 30 pc higher.

Oil jumps to $42.65
LONDON: Oil prices rose on Wednesday, stemming an eight-session slide that has dragged prices down 14 per cent from record highs as news emerged of a fresh pipeline fire in Iraq. US light crude climbed 53 cents to $42.65 a barrel, almost $7 below the record high of $49.40 struck on August 20. London’s brent crude was up 61 cents at $40.22 a barrel. Concerns have abated in recent days that tightly stretched supplies could be severely disrupted at a time when oil demand is growing at the fastest rate in 24 years.

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