Thursday, June 01, 2006

OPEC brushes off call to cut production

Oil-rich nations brushed off a push by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez for a production cut that could raise world prices, but he used the OPEC meeting to lobby for expanding the cartel's membership and praised Bolivia's nationalization of its natural gas industry.

Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah al-Attiyah, said ahead of Thursday's meeting that he did not believe output should be cut now, echoing comments by other important players in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

But he said OPEC will be watching the situation between now and its next meeting in September, and could then change course.

No comments: