DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- OPEC officials say $55 a barrel of oil is its preferred price, lower than recent preference statements, as the cartel battles to catch falling prices.
Mohammed Al Hamli, the United Arab Emirates' oil minister and the current president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said oil's drop from record highs of $78 a barrel in the summer to around $50 isn't a big worry.
"We are not panicking," Hamli said. "Concerned, I think, because we are embarking on huge investment programs and the price in that respect is very important because of the outlays."
OPEC officials had said recently they thought $60 a barrel was a fair price for producers and consumers.
"There is no specific price in mind, but anything around $55 is considered reasonable," Hamli said Monday, the Trade Arabia news service reports.
OPEC is amid production quota cuts to buoy prices, though the goals have not been met.
Saudi Arabia, OPEC's and the world's largest producer, said last week further cuts aren't necessary.
Saudi Arabia's talk could be a message to Iran in the battle over Iraq, as a way to weaken the Iranians who are dependent on high oil prices.
"The current Saudi stance is an attempt to put pressure on other members of OPEC to increase compliance with production cuts," Greg Priddy, global energy analyst for the Eurasia Group, wrote in Tuesday's Eurasia Group Energy Trendwatch.
"Compliance with the original round of cuts announced in December has increased in the past month, but is still only about 800,000 bpd out of the 1.2 million bpd to which the cartel's members had committed themselves," he added.
Another round of cuts is supposed to take effect in February but, Priddy writes, he expects even less compliance.
