Oil prices near "acceptable" level: OPEC

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KUWAIT (Reuters) - OPEC's president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said on Saturday oil prices were approaching a level acceptable to both consumers and producers after recent decreases.


"The growth in demand has started to be less than before and we hope the prices will be (soon) ... acceptable to the consumer and the producer," Sheikh Ahmad, also Kuwait's oil minister, told Reuters.

Sheikh Ahmad said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was ready to tap its 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of spare production capacity if demand warranted.

"It (extra capacity) is ready whenever there is a call for it, but there has been no call for this 2 million barrels," he said.

OPEC has agreed to offer the spare capacity, the lion's share of which is held by Saudi Arabia, from October 1 for three months.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051029/bs_nm/energy_opec_chief_dc