Opec to shun increase as US slows

A combination of economic slowdown in the United States and a seasonal fall in consumption will hit oil demand and Opec will not increase output when it meets next week, the producer group’s president said on Tuesday.

‘I can tell you they are not going to increase production because there are plenty of stocks,’ OPEC President Chakib Khelil told Reuters.


‘Gasoline stocks are high, then we have a second quarter reduction in demand and with the economic situtation in the US, probably a recession, demand will definitely fall, maybe not by much.’

Oil demand typically eases in the second quarter following the end of the northern hemisphere winter and refiners often take advantage of the drop in consumption to carry out maintenance.

Reuters