Doha, June 09: OPEC secretary general Alvaro Silva Calderon said today that the 11-member oil cartel would take the "appropriate action" after meeting in Qatar on Wednesday. "The purpose of the conference is to monitor the market and then take the appropriate action," Calderon told reporters in the Qatari capital Doha, giving no indication whether that action would be a cut in production.

"Talking about the Iraq situation, everybody knows the special situation of Iraq. One time ... one day I hope that Iraq will be with us," Calderon added.

Juan Antono Borges, the deputy oil minister for non-OPEC Mexico in Doha as an observer, said, "We expect a fair price for consumers and producers.”
"We feel that in the last two years the prices were between 22 and 28 dollars," within the OPEC price band mechanism, Borges said.

Under the price band mechanism, OPEC is supposed to slash its output by 500,000 barrels per day (BPD) when its basket of crude falls under $ 22 for 10 consecutive working days, and increase output by the same amount when the price stays above $ 28 for the same period.
An OPEC source in Vienna earlier said that ministers were not expected to cut the Cartel's output.

"I don't see the group doing any cuts next week. There is a big question mark over Iraq and OPEC is wise enough not to cut while the picture on Iraq is still cloudy," the source said. The main issue confronting the OPEC oil ministers when they meet on Wednesday is how to re-allocate output quotas once Iraq increases exports.

Bureau Report