Algerian minister: Opec cuts followed.
OPEC compliance heading to 100%
Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said today Opec's compliance with a series of cuts agreed in the second half of last year to stem the steep slide in oil prices would reach 100% by the group's next meeting in March.
"Right now, we have very good compliance. We have 85% which is unusual for compliance. By meeting time, we will probably have 100%," Khelil told Reuters on his way to a meeting at the US Department of Energy.
He reiterated that there was a 50% chance Opec would agree to cut production again when it meets in Vienna to review policy, according to a Reuters report.
Prices for front-month US crude dropped to below $34 a barrel today.
"I don't think we feel more pressure just because the price went down one day," Khelil said. On Monday, he told reporters that $40 was a good price for crude at the moment.
Some Opec ministers and officials have said the cartel would be likely to act again in order to prop up prices.
Last week the minister said there was a 50% chance Opec would cut output at the meeting. Asked if that was still the chance the group would cut, Khelil said: "Yes."
"We're going to see evolution over the next month until the next meeting and make an appropriate decision."
Khelil on Monday said that Saudi Arabia was the only Opec member that could produce less than its allocated oil output quotas required.
Today, however, he insisted that if the group decided to reduce output again, the reduction would have to be shared amongst the group.
"If we are going to have to make a decision to cut, then everybody will cut according to these quotas. They have to. They are a part of the team," he said.