VIENNA -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to a deal Tuesday offering to use its remaining spare production capacity from October 1 to the end of the year in a bid to reassure consumer countries about security of energy supplies, said Reuters.
The pact means that the 11-member OPEC is putting its last 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of spare crude on the block for world oil markets. It leaves the group's official output limit unchanged at 28 million bpd because ministers say global refining capacity is at full stretch and [image-nocss] unable to process more crude.
It seems nobody will buy it because the market is well supplied, said Libyan Energy Minister Fathi Omar Bin Shatwan.
There appears little OPEC can do to control oil prices, blown $4 higher on Monday by Hurricane Rita, heading for U.S. Gulf Coast oil facilities.
OPEC is not going to be the decisive factor, but we want to reassure the market by saying we have this extra capacity, said Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru.
Crude futures eased back $1.29 a barrel Tuesday to $66.10 as dealers calculated the risk of Rita causing a further setback to the U.S. energy industry after Hurricane Katrina.
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