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OPEC may lift output by 2m barrels
CNN.com
Monday, September 19, 2005 Posted: 0942 GMT

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- OPEC oil ministers were considering offering 2 million extra barrels a day in an effort to calm a market rattled by refinery shutdowns and concerns over supplies ahead of the winter heating season, the cartel's president said Monday.

Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah, who is also Kuwait's oil minister, said some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries were backing a plan to keep the output ceiling unchanged at 28 million barrels a day, but make a one-time offer of an additional 2 million barrels to test demand for crude and cool near record-high prices.

Others supported a move to hike the quota by 500,000 barrels a day, or 2 percent.

"Consultations are going in a positive way," said Sheik Ahmed. He said a decision on OPEC's output quota could come later Monday.

Libyan Oil Minister Fathi Hamed bin Shatwan said OPEC was likely to test the market first.

"We'll say there is 2 million barrels a day available here," he said. "Who will buy it is welcome; to test the market and to show that there is no need (for a output hike). We say the market is well supplied and people don't believe us."

Nah, nobody needs more oil. It's just a figment of our imagination that oil has gone to $60+/bbl. China's not buying any oil. America's oil industry didn't just get hit by a hurricane, everything is just fine...NOT! I would assume that this oil will be snapped up as soon as it hits the market. Refining capacity may be insufficient in America, but somewhere they'll find a use for it.

Full Story: OPEC Tests Market

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