Iraq is satisfied with oil prices and believes the crude market is balanced, said Iraq's oil minister on a visit to Iran, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Monday. "The current price of oil is satisfactory for Iraq there is no shortage of supply in the oil market and the market is balanced," said Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi.
Opec's reference crude oil basket price edged higher to $113.66 a barrel on Friday from $113.20 the previous day, Opec said on Monday. The reference basket comprises 12 crudes. Leading exporter Saudi Arabia used to favour an oil price of $70-$80 a barrel but said at the Opec meeting in June that range belonged to the past without saying what its new preferred price was. Analysts have estimated it stands at $90 or higher.
Opec pumped 29 million bpd in April. According to its report from Opec headquarters in Vienna, demand for its crude will rise to 30.66 million bpd in the second half of the year on the 89-million-bpd world market. That would suggest Opec needs to raise output by 1.7 million bpd from current production levels to balance global supply and demand.