Libya oil chief doubts OPEC will lower output

VIENNA (AFP) – Libya’s oil chief Shukri Ghanem downplayed fears on Saturday that oil cartel OPEC could decide to lower production at its March 5 meeting in Vienna.

“I don’t think much will happen (at the meeting). I think prices will stay between 85 and 90 dollars,” Ghanem told AFP after an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in the Austrian capital.


He added he was happy with a price range between 82 and 90 dollars per barrel. Light sweet crude for delivery in March closed Friday in New York at 88.96 dollars per barrel.

Industry analysts have said OPEC could decide to lower production at a regular session in March to prevent a drop in oil prices in the event of a recession in the United States.

AFP