OPEC oil producers on Wednesday sealed their first new production limit in three years in a deal that settles a six-month-old argument over output levels. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed a supply target of 30 million barrels daily, roughly in line with current production. It did not discuss individual national quotas. The agreement caps output for all 12 OPEC members for the first half of 2012 but will keep supply running near three-year highs — enough to rebuild lean global inventories. “We're not going to bypass it, we're going to adhere to it,” said OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Al-Badri of the new limit. Higher supply from OPEC, mostly from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, has kept a leash on oil prices as Riyadh seeks to help nurture global growth by keeping fuel costs under control. Brent traded near $108 on Wednesday, down from a year-high $127 in April. The Gulf Arab producers would prefer lower prices to help nurture global economic growth. The UAE said recently that $80-$100 was preferable. “Saudi Arabia is the central banker of the oil market and the decision that they will bring more oil to the market is definitely a good one,” said Fatih Birol, chief economist at consumer body the International Energy Agency. World oil inventories, boosted by rising Libyan oil output, at 1 million bpd this week from a pre-war 1.6 million bpd, should now rise. OPEC's secretariat calculates that 30 million barrels a day from OPEC will meet demand in the first half of the year and build stocks by 650,000 bpd. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) that would lift inventories among industrialized OECD nations from 56 days of OECD demand now to 60 days by the middle of 2012. OPEC next meets on June 14.
