EIA Reiterates Need For OPEC To Increase Output

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The head of the Energy Information Administration on Tuesday reiterated calls for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase crude production to boost the world’s small capacity cushion as oil prices neared breaking a record high.

EIA Administrator Guy Caruso told Dow Jones Newswires that by increasing output, OPEC would help relieve the tension in the narrow supply-demand gap that’s fueling price pressure. Despite rising prices adding to fears of a possible global recession, some of the more hawkish members of the oil cartel are discussing cutting production at their next meeting in March.


Front-month contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded Tuesday above $100 a barrel – nearing the all-time, inflation-adjusted record of $103.10. Prices spiked following reports a rebel leader from an oil-rich region of Nigeria was killed in government custody, though retreated slightly after Associated Press reports later in the day said that a Nigerian government spokesman said rebel leader Henry Okah is “alive and well.”

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the $100 oil highlighted the need for Congress to review energy market trading and how the government manages the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

“We need to be sure energy markets are functioning well and aren’t being driven by manipulation or excessive speculation,” and to make sure that the SPR is managed “in a more sophisticated way,” Bingaman said in a statement.

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