Finland Times

 

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is unlikely to change much on its output next year, and there is "no need to panic" at the price drop, said the OPEC's secretary general Abdalla El-Badri Wednesday in London.

     

Speaking at the 35th Oil & Money Conference, Badri said:" I don't think 2015 will be far away from 2014 in terms of production. There is nothing wrong with the market."

     

OPEC's expected production level is 30 million barrels per day (bpd) this year.

     

"If prices stay at 85 U.S. dollars, we will see a lot of investment, a lot of oil, going out of the market, about 65 percent of the producers, they have high costs. Not OPEC," he told the conference.

   

 "We do not see much change in the fundamentals. Demand is still growing, supply is also growing. OPEC is reviewing the situation. The most important thing is we should not panic. Unfortunately, everybody is panicking. We really need to sit, and think and see how this will develop," he noted.

     

This Monday, light, sweet crude for December delivery slipped below 80 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, tumbling from over 107 dollars a barrel on June 20. December Brent crude dropped to less than 86 dollars on the same day, around 25 percent lower than the peak level four months ago.

   

 The 12-member states of OPEC pump approximately 40 percent of the world's oil. The oil producers' club is next due to meet to review its production target on Nov. 27 in Vienna.

     

"We are not seeing a clear picture of what the direction of price will be, even in November," Badri said.

     

"In the longer term, OPEC must be ready to produce. Around 2018-2020, U.S. tight oil will slow down. By 2040, OPEC must be ready to produce 40 million bpd of oil, and 50 million bpd of liquids, that's crude and natural gas liquids," he added.