OPEC: Consensus is not to change output

LUANDA, Angola — OPEC looks poised to hold its output steady when it meets in Angola, with a top official saying Monday there is agreement on maintaining the bloc's production targets as it struggles with cheating within its ranks.

The official, Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri of Libya, also said prices are "very comfortable" for now, reflecting a sentiment sounded by several of the group's oil ministers ahead of Tuesday's meeting.

"There is a consensus that there is no change," el-Badri told reporters when asked about OPEC's output plans at the meeting in Luanda. Even for next year, he said, changes to output are "not on our radar at this time."

Oil is trading near the $75 a barrel price OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia's oil minister earlier this month described as "perfect." The challenge for OPEC is to keep prices there as the global economy works to recover.

The bloc last week nudged its 2010 forecast for global oil demand slightly higher, but warned that the market still faces risks because of lingering questions about the world's ability to rebound from its worst recession in decades. It expects demand to remain weak through the first half of 2010.

"We have to watch the market very carefully now, hoping that 2010 will be better," Qatar's oil minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said upon arrival on Monday in the Angolan capital.

OPEC still faces one of its most common and largely insurmountable challenges — keeping its members true to their production targets. As oil prices have rebounded, some of the 12-member group have exceeded their quotas to tap into the higher prices.

The Qatari oil minister said tackling historically high levels of cheating within OPEC would be on Tuesday's agenda. "We will discuss it tomorrow," al-Attiyah said.

Crude prices have staged an incredible turnaround in the past year, more than doubling from a low near $35 a barrel to trade to a zone many producing countries say they're happy with.

Benchmark crude prices were hovering above $73 a barrel by late afternoon in Luanda.

Anemic demand has prevented prices from heading back toward $100 a barrel. That has kept OPEC from drawing blame for stifling early signs of an economic turnaround.

"When the price of oil gets to $80, OPEC obviously recognizes it would inhibit recovery," said John Hall, chairman of EnergyQuote's John Hall Associates consultancy in London. "They are concerned. They want to see recovery move ahead."