OPEC says to raise output if oil at $100

LUANDA (Reuters) – OPEC ministers will raise output to protect the global economic recovery at a meeting in December if oil prices rise to $100 per barrel, the group’s president said on Sunday.

Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola’s oil minister, said that both producers and consumers were comfortable with oil prices at between $75 and $80 per barrel and that higher prices could put a brake on the global economy.

“I think that a balanced price is always better,” Botelho de Vasconcelos said before boarding a flight to Brazil late on Sunday.

“You know that, if necessary, some countries are open to injecting more oil into the market and that will be done.”

Asked if a rise in oil prices to $100 per barrel would inevitably prompt OPEC to raise production at its December 22 meeting in Luanda, Botelho de Vasconcelos replied: “I believe so. We need to maintain the balance.”

Reuters