Opec still overproducing

Opec President Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Saturday he would visit Russia to talk about the global oil market, adding the cartel was allowing members to produce above official output limits as oil prices stayed high.
Russia, the world's second-biggest oil exporter and a non-Opec country, recently suggested that the producers' cartel and non-Opec nations team up to bring sky-high oil prices down to protect global economic growth.
Moscow feared that if prices stayed strong, global inflation risks would rise significantly.
Purnomo, who is also Indonesian oil minister, said he had received an invitation from the Russian government to visit the country.
"I may visit Russia before the Opec meeting in Beirut in June," he told reporters during a visit to a hydropower plant in Subang, 125 km (78 miles) east of the capital, Jakarta.
Asked about Opec's efforts to reduce oil prices, he said: "We currently allow (supply) leakage because prices have not yet fallen. We hope prices will be in the Opec range of $22-$28.
"Production is currently still above quota because we allow them (Opec members) to produce more as prices are still high."
The Organisation of the Oil Exporting Countries agreed to cut output by one million barrels per day (bpd), or four percent, from April 1, worried that oil prices could fall once demand tapers off after the northern hemisphere winter.
But soaring Chinese demand, which Opec forecast would push world consumption growth to a four-year high, and low US fuel stocks have kept US crude prices near a 13-year closing high above $38 hit last month. New York crude settled at $37.69 a barrel on Friday, up 17 cents from the previous day.
Strong prices have given Opec little incentive to cut supply from March levels, when production from the 10 members with quotas was around 2.6 million barrels per above the 23.5 million bpd ceiling that took effect this month.
The price for Opec's basket of crude rose to $32.54 a barrel on Thursday, prompting Opec-member Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, to urge the cartel to adjust the top end of its preferred $22-28 a barrel price target to $30.
Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez said on Friday oil prices, which have held above the cartel's price band for all but one day since November, had been influenced by situations outside Opec's control, such as the conflict in Iraq.
Asked whether Opec would impose a limit on the over-production by members, Purnomo said: "They have their own arrangements. It also depends on their production capacity."
Another non-Opec oil producer, Norway, had also raised concerns about high prices but had no plans for cuts or hikes in output after the producers' group pledged to tighten supplies.