Opec could cut output more in Nov if needed: Algerian official

[ALGIERS] Opec could cut production at its late-November meeting in Vienna by another 1 per cent more than the amount agreed in Algiers last month if producers reckon it is needed, Algerian Energy Minister Nouredine Bouterfa told local Ennahar TV.

He also told Ennahar that Opec and non-Opec members would hold an informal meeting in Istanbul on Oct 8-13 to discuss how to implement the Algiers deal, though he did not give details about who would attend.

Opec producers agreed in Algiers in September to reduce output by around 700,000 barrels per day to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day, its first cut since 2008. Opec estimates its current output at 33.24 million bpd.

"We will evaluate the market in Vienna by the end of November and if 700,000 barrels are not enough, we will go up. Now that Opec is unified and speaks in one voice everything is much easier and if we need to cut by 1 per cent, we will cut by 1 per cent," Mr Bouterfa told Ennahar in an interview to be broadcast later on Thursday.

Algeria is one of Opec's price hawks, and this was the first suggestion of a possible further decrease in output. Before the Algiers meeting Mr Bouterfa had been pressing for a 1 million bpd Opec production cut to stabilize prices.

Venezuela's Oil Ministry said on Thursday that oil ministers from Algeria, Gabon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia would participate, as would the South American country's oil chief, Eulogio Del Pino.

REUTERS