OPEC set to keep supply targets

With less than three weeks before OPEC’s next meeting and crude prices rising, a consensus is emerging that the oil exporters’ group will leave supply targets unchanged.

There are concerns that the global recovery could be harmed if crude prices climb too fast, damping prospects for a rebound in demand for fuel that would draw down swollen oil inventories.

Last week crude saw its strongest weekly gain this year, rising 10 per cent to a six-month high of US$58.75 a barrel in New York. That is still well below the $70 to $80 a barrel that most OPEC members have said would be needed to stimulate investment in oil development, but above the $50 a barrel that the Saudi oil minister, Ali al Naimi, recently said was Saudi Arabia’s contribution to economic recovery.