Oil-rich Gulf states have vowed not to cut
crude production, blaming speculators and producers outside the OPEC group for
tumbling prices.
Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi
said "the spread of misleading information and speculation" had
contributed to the 40% price fall.
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, he also dismissed
claims of a Saudi plot to push prices down for political goals.
Ministers from Kuwait and the UAE also said
there were no plans to cut output.
Mr Naimi said that if producer countries outside OPEC wanted to
restrict output, "they are welcome".
"We are not going to cut; certainly
Saudi Arabia is not going to cut."
Kuwait's Oil Minister, Ali al-Omair, said OPEC
did not need to cut production and would not consider an emergency meeting.
"I don't think we need to cut. We gave
a chance to others [and] they were not willing to do so," he said during
the conference in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
In November, OPEC decided to keep its
target output of 30 million barrels per day unchanged, leaving the market to
balance itself without the group taking action.
Oil Price Rise?
In the past, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer, has
acted to rein in output to support prices.
The decision not to intervene this time
prompted conspiracy theories, including that OPEC wanted to undermine the US
shale boom and that there was a political plot to reduce oil revenues earned by
Russia and Iran.
Mr Naimi denied that politics played a role
in the kingdom's oil policy. He said he was not happy about the falling oil
price, but added: "Current prices do not encourage investment in any form of
energy, but they stimulate global economic growth, leading ultimately to an
increase in global demand and a slowdown in the growth of supplies."
Meanwhile, OPEC's Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri told
Reuters news agency on Sunday he hoped to see a recovery in the price of oil by
the end of next year.
"We hope the price would rebound by
the end of the second half of 2015," he said. "We can't see the
market now; we have to wait until the end of the second half of 2015 to see how
the market [will] react to these low prices."
The world is expected to need less OPEC oil
next year as the US shale gas boom accelerates.
Source:
BBC.CO.UK
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