Quicker response: from Opec needed says IEA boss Nobuo Tanaka
EIA calls for faster Opec action
OPEC must act more promptly in raising oil output in case of a shortage, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today, as the producer group meets next week to discuss sliding prices and demand.
"If (there is) a shortage of supply, we would want them to act more quickly," Reuters quoted Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of IEA, said on the sidelines of its World Energy Outlook 2008 presentation in Seoul.
The 12 members of Opec, which produce about 40% of the world's oil, agreed last month to cut supply by 1.5 million barrels per day starting 1 November, in a move which has yet to stem falling prices.
Opec will meet again in Cairo on 29 November.
But its President Chakib Khelil said in remarks published today that while the cartel was very concerned about worsening world economic slowdown, it was unlikely to take action on output at the meeting.
A source close to Opec said on Tuesday the group could still decide to cut output at the informal talks, which one delegate said could be up to 1.5 million bpd.
"Really, we don't know how much they are cutting... the market's tightness has improved," Tanaka said when asked about Opec's move to cope with falling oil prices.
He said the current price reflected the basic fundamentals of the market, but it was "also overreacting to the projected slowdown in economy and oil demand".