Opec chief plays down possible output cut

Opec chief Abdalla Salem El-Badri does not expect the oil cartel to cut production at a key meeting next month, Dow Jones Newswires reported Friday. Despite signs of even weaker crude demand and swelling oil inventory in big energy consuming nations, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries first needed to fully implement an agreement announced in December to remove 4.2 million barrels a day from world markets, El-Badri said in an interview.
"We need to take all that off the market before we can talk about new cuts," El-Badri said. Nevertheless, he did not want to pre-empt discussions at the meeting in Opec's Vienna headquarters on May 28, he insisted. The cartel's 12 ministers "can come together and not hesitate to take action," El-Badri said. Opec has reduced its oil production target by an overall 4.2 million barrels per day since September to 24.84 million bpd, the lowest since just after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.