OPEC official warns of ‘new price era’

VIENNA, Austria – High and volatile crude costs may signal “a new price era,” a senior
OPEC official said Tuesday, insisting that the 11-nation cartel is doing all it can to bring prices down to more reasonable levels.

Mohammed Barkindo, acting secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, defended the group’s decision Monday to keep its production target steady at 28 million barrels a day.

OPEC made clear that it would keep close tabs on prices, which have recently fallen to five-month lows, and consider a cut in output quotas later in the year.

Barkindo said a key reason was high commercial inventories, which he said totaled 1.2 billion barrels