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Saudis See No Need For OPEC Cuts

As oil prices rose to six-month highs, Saudi Oil Minister suggested Wednesday that OPEC will opt to keep production steady at its upcoming meeting.

VIENNA (AP) -- As oil prices rose to six-month highs, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi suggested Wednesday that OPEC will opt to keep production steady at its upcoming meeting.

Even before he spoke, the recent jump in oil prices was working against hardline OPEC members advocating for even costlier crude. But Naimi's comment reinforced expectations that OPEC oil ministers would decide Wednesday to continue pumping oil at present levels -- the Saudis account for close to a third of total OPEC production and what they say is usually informal policy for the rest of the 12-nation group.

"There is no need to cut production," Naimi told reporters, adding that the group should "stay the course." He said that oil prices would likely reach around $75 a barrel by the end of the year on the back of growing demand in Asia.

Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 67 cents to $63.12 a barrel by midday in Europe Wednesday in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, the contract reached a peak of $63.45, its highest level since mid-November.

The Saudis have said they can live with oil at $50 a barrel, while supporting the general view of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting that prices of $75 to $80 are needed over the longer term. Price hawks Venezuela and Iran, the No. 2 OPEC producer, have been the most vociferous in support of those levels ahead of the meeting.

The steep slide of crude from its 2008 peaks of $147 a barrel -- and resulting Iranian economic hardship -- is believed to be hurting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election chances. Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said in March that his country was diverting funds from other sectors of its national budget to support its oil industry, its main revenue source.

Staking out Iran's position ahead of Thursday's meeting, Ahmadinejad recently said $80 to $90 a barrel was "a suitable price for oil." And Rafael Ramirez of Iranian oil ally Venezuela said his country favored oil prices at $70 a barrel -- still about $10 above present levels.

Still, a strong recovery in prices has given support to calls for keeping production levels unchanged.

A barrel of crude now fetches more than $60 compared to levels near $30 just four months ago. And that spike has come despite continued anemic worldwide demand and gloomy future forecasts -- Naimi on Wednesday suggested greater demand later this year would come only from Asia, with the U.S. and Europe continuing to lag.

OPEC's May estimate in fact predicts that demand for its crude will decline by over 2 million barrels a day this year.

Instead of being powered by demand, oil prices have risen on the back of international stock markets. But stocks normally rise months ahead of actual growth in industrial production, reductions in unemployment rolls and other signs that a recession is over.

Thus, any move by OPEC to scale back output levels in an effort to prop up prices could backfire -- both in terms of prolonging the recession and thereby depressing demand and by deepening perceptions that OPEC is bent on enriching itself at the cost of the rest of the world.

Cuts agreed on since September were meant to take a daily 4.2 million barrels off the market. But the 11 members that are under production quotas are still overshooting their joint daily target level of just under 25 million barrels by more than 800,000 barrels a day.

While 100 percent compliance with quotas is unlikely, even an additional 10 percent compliance would take more than 400,000 barrels a day off markets, slicing into oversupply while reducing the price shock that an outright cut in existing quotas would cause.

Thursday's meeting is likely to opt for nothing more drastic than renewing calls on members to slash overproduction and warning that OPEC is ready to call for an emergency meeting should prices slide suddenly.

"Certainly the market is oversupplied," United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mohamed bin Dhaen Al Hamli told reporters, while evading a direct answer on whether the ministers were contemplating cutting output.

JBC Energy in Vienna, however, said that the huge global stocks of oil could lead to a future OPEC output cut.

"If the group sticks to its current production target on Thursday it is very likely they will have to reduce output at a later meeting," JBC said.

Associated Press writer Pablo Gorondi contributed to this report from Budapest.

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