LUANDA/LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC is unlikely to further reduce its oil output targets at a meeting this month, a source close to the group's Angolan president and a second OPEC delegate said on Tuesday. The exporter group is likely at its May 28 meeting in Vienna to focus on complying with 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of existing output curbs, said the sources, who spoke on condition that they not be identified by name. "OPEC will not ask its members to carry out more cuts at the next meeting. The current production target should remain in place until September," said the source close to the OPEC president. "We are in a position of wait-and-see. Cuts are good to reduce the excess of oil in the market but we also have to take into account the impact of the global economic crisis on oil prices." Oil rose more than a dollar on Tuesday to a six-month high near $60 a barrel, having risen from a low of $32.40 in December and rallying more quickly than some in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries expected. The second OPEC delegate also said a further cut in output targets was unlikely. "There is no need to do anything; only to comply," he said. "The market is stabilising. By the end of the year it may reach $70." The source in Angola said the rise in oil prices was "a positive sign" and OPEC believed prices should continue to increase until the end of the month due to high compliance with its curbs and a recovery in the global economy. "Compliance is very high. All countries are complying with over 80 percent of the agreed cuts," the source said. Asked if OPEC still hoped oil would reach $75 a barrel this year, the source replied: "That is our target but it also depends on the global economy." |