Tripoli, March 06: The global oil market is oversupplied and OPEC will not change production quotas when its members next meet in Vienna on March 17, the head of Libya’s National Oil Company said on Friday.
“There is an excess of supply in the market,” Shukri Ghanem said. “We do not foresee a change in OPEC (production) quotas.”
Ghanem added that, “before considering an increase or a cut in production, (existing) quotas should be respected.”
At its last meeting in Angola on December 22, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries left its total production unchanged at 24.84 million barrels a day.
Earlier on Friday, in Asian trade oil prices bounced back on bargain buying, recovering from earlier falls ahead of a key US government jobs report, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gained 47 cents to 80.68 dollars a barrel.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for April was up 54 cents to 79.08 dollars.
—Agencies