Lagos — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at its 156th Ordinary meeting in Vienna yesterday agreed to keep their output targets unchanged.

OPEC has left its members' production quotas unchanged since December 2008, when it announced the last of a series of cuts aimed at bringing their output down by 4.2 million barrels per day. The cuts helped engineer a rebound in crude prices, which had fallen to as low as $30s from a mid-2008 high of almost $150 per barrel.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting, OPEC Secretary-General, Abdullah al-Badri said members reiterated their commitment to comply with individual production quotas.

"The conference further noted with concern that, although world oil demand is projected to increase marginally during the year, this rise will be more than offset by the expected increase in non-OPEC supply, meaning that 2010 is likely to witness a decline in the demand for OPEC crude oil for the third consecutive year".

The persistently high OECD stock levels (estimated to currently stand at 59-61 days of forward cover i.e. well above their five-year average) indicate that there has been a contra-seasonal stock build in the first quarter 2010 and the overhang in terms of forward cover is expected to continue throughout the year.

"In the light of the foregoing, the conference again decided to maintain the current oil production ceiling unchanged. Member countries reiterated their commitment to their individually agreed production allocations, thereby complying fully with the decision taken by Oran Conference in December 2008, just as they reaffirmed their readiness to swiftly respond to any developments which might place oil market stability in jeopardy.

Given the uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment and world oil demand, the Secretariat will continue to closely monitor developments in the months ahead, keeping Member countries abreast of developments as they occur. The situation will be reviewed at the next Ordinary Meeting of the Conference, which is scheduled to be convened in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, October 14, 2010", the statement read.

Meanwhile Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, has commended OPEC for stabilising the price of crude oil at the international market hence protecting member countries from undue exploitation by the international oil companies.

He said the 50-year old organisation has played a prominent role in ensuring stability of the international crude oil market noting that it has weathered the storm so far in spite of efforts to frustrate it.

He said that notwithstanding the pressure from the outside to frustrate the so-called "cartel" as some interest groups would rather call the organisation, OPEC had survived this long and remained resolute in projecting its policies and programmes.