OPEC chief says oil prices ‘comfortable’

The chief of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries suggests oil production will likely stay unchanged for some time as the group waits to see how the world economy recovers. Abdalla El-Badri says OPEC is “comfortable” with the current oil cost range, adding the Vienna-based group doesn’t want to “rock the boat” as the world recovers from the global economic downturn.

He also told reporters that OPEC doesn’t want to see a “double dip recession” and that a change in quotas and prices this year depends on “circumstances.”

El-Badri spoke at a news conference marking the 50th birthday of the oil producing bloc. He said in an interview in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that most significant challenges for OPEC in the coming years are protection of the environment, shifting market conditions and finding new sources of revenue. He said OPEC supported efforts to shift to alternate sources of energy for power generation and noted that the world needs to come to terms with the fact that oil will one day run out. But he says crude will continue to play a key role for years.

—The Associated Press