Dubai : The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will raise crude production in October if the world economy picks up and oil demand increases, Libya's oil head Shukri Ganem said yesterday.
"If the economy improves, demand picks up and prices go up; that will add pressure on the economy and Opec will take action," Ganem, Chairman of Libya's National Oil Co, or NOC, said.
"In October the situation will be examined and action will be taken accordingly," Ganem said.
Opec is scheduled to meet in Vienna on October 14. The 12-member group left oil production quotas unchanged at its latest meeting in Vienna on March 17.
Ghanem said the org-anisation, which supplies about 40 per cent of the world's oil, will not be swayed by day-to-day speculation in the market.
"Change of Opec production level is a more complex process — it follows the market but it looks at supply and demand, and whether the market is being driven by fundamentals, geopolitics or psychological factors as well as the plans for production from other member countries," he said.
US crude for May delivery closed Friday at $80.00 a barrel, down 53 cents, reversing gains earlier in the day after data showed the US economy grew at a slightly less-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter. ICE Brent settled at $79.29, down 32 cents.
The US economy grew at a 5.6 per cent annual rate instead of the 5.9 per cent originally estimated, the Commerce Department said in its final report for the fourth quarter.
