Oil Market May Need 2010 OPEC Boost, Bernstein Says

(Bloomberg) — OPEC may be called upon to boost output in early 2010 to meet oil demand after a decline in operating U.S. rigs causes production volumes to fall, according a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. report today.

Well shut-ins are


U.S. rigs exploring for or producing oil have dropped by 38 percent since Nov. 7, according to Feb. 13 data published by Baker Hughes Inc. Oil rigs fell by 10, or 3.5 percent, last week to 273, the lowest since June 22, 2007. Oil prices have fallen 22 percent this year and 64 percent in the past year.

During the last major oil-price decline in the late 1990s, the oil rig count dropped 77 percent over 24 months, the analysts said. That it