OPEC May Reject Calls for More Supply With Oil at $76

[phantom power]

Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- OPEC, the producer of 40 percent of the world's oil, may reject consumer calls to increase supplies and lower prices from $76 a barrel on concern energy demand will falter as U.S. economic growth slows.

Oil ministers for Algeria, Iran, Libya, Qatar and Venezuela said in the past week they support keeping the quota at 25.845 million barrels a day until December. OPEC President Mohamed al- Hamli, who is also the United Arab Emirates oil minister, said yesterday markets are ``adequately supplied.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=avEDweZgkUpo&refer=news

[jdlh8894]

1. Fine

Let them run up the price or hold back production. Then countries will be forced to find alternatives or cut usage.

[Squeech]

2. Peak oil

OPEC may well be pumping full tilt already. There are experts who think so, who believe that, for example, Saudi Arabia has been cooking its own books for decades. So an increase may not even be possible.

[phantom power]

3. I think they technically could increase their production rate, but...

I think they've also arrived at the point where they can really see the end of the line. They know more or less how much oil they can extract, and where it all is. Kind of like a midlife-crisis for oil resources. Really being psychologically faced with mortality, as it were.

They can put off the production peak, but then the backside will just drop off all the faster. They want to avoid that, I imagine. I bet the OPEC big-wigs aren't sleeping very well these days. They're trying to figure out how to ease the world oil-junkie off the juice slowly enough avoid a dangerous withdrawal freak-out, and also trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of the sales of the remaining juice. And somehow do all that without the junkie realizing its happening, which is a game that can't last forever. I almost feel sorry for them.