OPEC set to maintain oil output ceiling

OPEC was expected to stick by its oil output limit at a meeting here today, even as Iraq and Iran eye higher crude exports amid slashed Libyan production.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not see a need to alter the cartel's crude production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day, member nations led by the world's biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia said in Vienna ahead of the meeting.
Pumping about one third of the world's crude, OPEC will decide also on whether to replace Abdullah El-Badri as secretary general.
"We know demand is good, economic growth is good, supply is good," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters at OPEC headquarters in the Austrian capital.

OPEC members Nigeria and Venezuela each said they believed the cartel would agree to maintain its crude oil production ceiling.
Oil market analysts were meanwhile not expecting any surprises from OPEC, whose dozen member nations from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America are together producing slightly below its output target.

"It is unlikely that OPEC will adjust its official notional production ceiling as it is unlikely that either Iran and Iraq can contribute incrementally in any significant manner to the cartel's supply next year," Harry Tchilinguirian, BNP Paribas' global head of commodity markets strategy, told AFP.
OPEC is facing also demand strains as consumers turn to cheaper oil and gas extracted from shale rock, particularly in North America.

At the same time, cartel members Iraq and Iran are seeking to increase their production after sizeable falls to output in recent years.