OPEC says
it has lost control
of oil prices

Seasonal lull?
Analysts say OPEC typically eases back on production at this time of year because demand slows as the winter heating season winds down and drivers haven’t yet hit the road for summer vacations. But with prices nearly double levels just 18 months ago, production cutbacks are unlikely, say analysts.

“OPEC’s only real option is to maintain the status quo for now," said Smith Barney Citigroup oil analyst Doug Leggate in a recent research report.

Oil prices have also risen for a variety of other factors over which OPEC has no control, according to Adkins. Tanker prices haven jumped from $3 a barrel to $10 a barrel during the recent run-up in crude prices. To increase output, Saudi Arabia has been selling lower grade crude, which has boosted the price of more desirable light, sweet crude. And the falling dollar has effectively cut the value of oil payments to OPEC producers.

“When were looking on our screens seeing $45 oil, Saudis are cashing checks for $25 oil,” he said. “So in their mind -– their $25 price (target) -– that’s what they’re getting.”

As rising demand has approached the world’s production limits, OPEC’s decisions have less impact on prices. In the past, the cartel has "controlled" oil prices (or tried to) by adding or withholding production. By holding back oil, the market remained "tight" and prices stayed relatively high. The "oil shortages" of the 1970s were engineered by OPEC -- not the result of a true lack of supply.

But production quotas have had mixed success. For starters, many OPEC producers have "cheated" over the years -- agreeing cut back at OPEC meetings but then pumping more when they went home.

A big run-up in inventories in 1997, for example, came just in time for the Asian economic meltdown in 1998. OPEC couldn’t cut production fast enough and oil prices fell to $10 a barrel. But eventually cutbacks sent prices back up above $30 a barrel by 2000.

Then came the U.S. stock market crash, Sept. 11 and recession -- which sent oil back down to $15. OPEC cut production again, and prices began their run back to $30 -- and beyond.

Now, with prices above $50, OPEC risks seeing prices tumble again if high energy costs put a damper on world growth. That’s why – despite relatively high crude oil inventories for this time of year – Saudi Arabia has proposed boosting production by 2 percent, to 27.5 million bpd.

"We're concerned about prices, we're also concerned about economic growth and we're particularly concerned about economic growth in developing countries," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi. "Hopefully I will be convincing enough to move the rest to my thinking."

But ministers from Iran, Kuwait and Nigeria have recommended postponing any increase until May 1 to see if demand eases as it usually does in the second quarter.

And some OPEC ministers don’t think oil prices at current levels will slow the global economy. Some U.S. analysts concur, noting that the U.S. economy is less dependent on oil than it was during the “oil shocks” of the 1970s, when oil hit $80 a barrel when measured in today’s dollars.

"Even at $60 we see no economic impact," Libyan Energy Minister Fathi Omar Bin Shatwan told reporters.

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