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Kuwait's oil minister said Tuesday that OPEC members are in informal
talks about raising oil output, but have yet to make any decisions about
adjusting supply.
The 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has so
far held its official output quotas unchanged, even as massive protests
across the oil rich Middle East have pushed global oil prices to their
highest levels since late 2008. An uprising in OPEC member Libya has
stoked supply concerns and the producer bloc is facing increasing
pressure to pump more oil into the market to ease prices.
Some members of the group, which supplies roughly 35 per cent of the
world's oil, have begun talks about supply, Sheik Ahmed al-Abdullah
al-Sabah told reporters outside Kuwait's parliament Tuesday.
“We are in consultation, but we have not decided which direction,” he
said, without providing details of the talks or where they might lead.
Kuwait is, for now, sticking to its previously agreed quota levels. “We didn't increase,” Mr. al-Sabah said.
Oil prices hovered near $104 a barrel Tuesday, down from the nearly $107
a barrel struck the previous day, crude's highest level since Sept. 26,
2008.
U.S. light crude futures fell 43 cents to $105.01.
OPEC is not scheduled to meet again formally until June 8 in Vienna.
The group has repeatedly said the spike in prices is fuelled by market
fear driven by speculative investors rather than a tangible shortage of
supply.
Oil inventories in developed nations remain high, but the concerns have
focused on the possibility that the unrest that has ravaged Libya will
spread to other major producers, most notably Saudi Arabia.
On Monday, Qatar's energy minister said there is no shortage of production or supply on global markets.
“The stocks are at a healthy level for the consumer so there is no
reason to worry,” the minister, Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, was quoted
as saying by the state-run Qatar News Agency.
But Mr. al-Sada added that OPEC is closely monitoring the situation and stands ready to act if needed.
“From what we know, a number of countries are happy to check the market if there is any shortage,” he said.
Libya sits atop Africa's largest proven reserves of conventional crude,
and produces about 1.5 million barrels per day. But the fighting between
anti-government rebels and forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi has
battered production, lowering output by more than half, according to
many estimates.
Saudi Arabia, which has over 4 million barrels in spare production
capacity, has been increasing its output to offset the Libya export
slump.
" CAD - Housing starts come better than expected for the month of February "..
" We continue to expect a softening in overall housing starts " ...
Housing starts in Canada climbed in February to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 181,900 in February, driven by construction in Ontario
and the Prairies, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said today.
That's up from 170,600 in January, and largely because of construction
of multi-family housing in Toronto and Saskatchewan and Toronto.
"We continue to expect a softening in overall housing starts,
particularly with the anticipated higher interest rates and a slower
second half of the year keeping home prices under wraps," said economist
Krishen Rangasamy of CIBC World Markets.
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