Oil Market is Still Oversupplied- OPEC President

Posted 04 December 2006 @ 10:03 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

ABU DHABI (AP) - The global oil market is still oversupplied and prices could be higher despite a rally that has taken them above $60 a barrel, OPEC President Edmund Daukoru of Nigeria said on Monday.

"The price is firming somewhat, but against a weakening dollar, and there is still a lot of excess volume out there," Daukoru told reporters in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. The global economy would be comfortable with U.S. crude prices near $60 a barrel, he said.

"I don't want to pin down a number but prices could be a little better than they are now," he said. U.S. crude was off 13 cents at $63.30 a barrel, holding last week's near 7 percent gains, after earlier reaching a high of $63.82.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet on December 14 in Nigeria to assess the impact of the group's 1.2 million barrel per day cut, decided at an emergency meeting in October.

Daukoru has said OPEC could trim output again, but in Abu Dhabi he declined to say whether consensus was building for another cut.