OPEC may move for enforcement before cuts

ALGIERS, Algeria, May 12 (UPI) -- Before considering reduced production at its May 28 meeting, OPEC members should move to enforce current quotas, the Algerian oil minister said.

The 11 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that are bound by quotas -- a group that includes all OPEC member nations except Iraq -- agreed in December to reduce production by 4.2 million barrels per day, but that level has yet to be met.

Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said enforcement of the current quota should trump any plans for further cuts, the Platts news service reports.

"I think OPEC should be very strict on discipline, and I think it would be very difficult to ask OPEC to reduce production if certain members are not disciplined (regarding) the previous cut," he said.

He pointed to a modest increase in oil prices, moving toward $60 per barrel in recent weeks, as a sign market conditions would push the oil sector into bullish territory.

"If the price continues to rise on its own, then why would we change anything?" he said. "It's working with the equities markets at the moment."

Oil prices topped $147 in July before settling near $50 for several months beginning in November.