OPEC invites more independent producers to Sept. meeting

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

OPEC has invited independent producers Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan to attend its September meeting, Venezuela’s oil ministry said in mid-August.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet Sept. 27 in Vienna to decide if the world oil market situation merits an output adjustment. The 11-member cartel produces 40 percent of the world’s oil and its production policy significantly affects oil prices.

But OPEC’s efforts to maintain stable oil prices often depend on the cooperation of independent oil exporting countries. Non-OPEC members Angola, Oman, Mexico, Russia and Norway already attend OPEC meetings regularly.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Alvaro Silva said he expects no decision to change production levels during the September meeting.

“It’s too early,” Silva said, adding that oil prices should rise because of coming fall and winter demand in the industrialized north.

OPEC cut daily production by 1 million barrels a day to sustain prices for crude in July. According to OPEC’s price band system, production increases by 500,000 barrels a day if the OPEC basket exceeds $28 a barrel for 20 consecutive trading days. Prices below $22 per barrel for 10 straight days triggers a 500,000 barrel per day cut.