Oil Hovers above $57 per Barrel as OPEC Exporters Maintain Cuts

The prices of oil increased on Friday last week after the members of the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) had decided to maintain its current daily production. Light sweet crude oil due to be delivered in April rose by $0.13 to $57.68 per barrel in Asian electronic trading on Nymex (New York Mercantile Exchange) in London. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil for May delivery increased up to $60.69 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. The world's major oil producers and exporters made the decision during their recent conference in Vienna. The OPEC exporters said that they decided not to change their output because they were satisfied with the results of their two recent output cuts. The latest output reduction was implemented by the oil bloc last February. The OPEC made the decision in an effort to control the continuing fall of prices in the world market.

OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri of Libya commented that the global oil market was healthy and stable. According to him, the group of exporters does not need to change its daily production at this moment. Needless to say, the oil bloc warned that the volatility of prices was likely to continue throughout the rest of the year. It must be noted that during the past weeks, the cost of petroleum had increased due to colder temperatures that increased the demand for energy.

The OPEC exporters have agreed to hold another meeting on September 11 in order to review the conditions of the world oil market. It must be noted that the group of exporters was expected to maintain its current oil output. However, OPEC production could still drop if oil ministers would comply with the two output cuts decided by the oil bloc during the past four months. Since last year, the OPEC cut a total of 1.7 million barrels from its daily quota in a move to control the continuing drop of prices in the market. Meanwhile, some analysts said that the world market was likely to shift its focus on Iran, which is currently pressured by the international community to halt its uranium enrichment program. Western nations, particularly the US, have suspected that Iran might possibly use the same technology to build weapons of mass destruction. But the Iranian government has insisted that it had the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Iran, which is a member of the OPEC, is among the biggest producers and exporters of oil and gas worldwide.