An oil price of $50 per barrel is too low for OPEC producers to invest in production and non-member countries, including Russia, should cut output to help boost prices, Reuters quoted OPEC's secretary general as saying today. Asked at a news conference during a visit to Algeria about the prospect of further output cuts at OPEC's next meeting on May 28, al-Badri said: "It depends on the economic situation, but if we face any problem OPEC will not hesitate to take any further decision to stabilise the market." He said there were still 722,000 barrels of oil on the market which needed to be removed if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- whose members pump more than a third of the world's oil -- is to reach full compliance with output cuts agreed at a previous meeting. "We (OPEC) are not satisfied with the current price ... A price at $50 is insufficient for oil investment. I think more than $70 would boost investment," al-Badri said. He said the fall in oil prices has had a "big impact" on OPEC members' investments in sustaining production levels, with 35 out of a total of 165 projects put on hold until 2013. Russia, the second-biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, is not an OPEC member and has resisted calls from the organisation to join in the cuts.
