Several OPEC oil ministers expect the crude price to pick up, proposing a new collective output ceiling in an attempt to ease the glut and end a market-share battle that has sapped prices. Oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are meeting in the Austrian capital with the international Brent crude oil futures were just under $50 a barrel on Thursday. UAE Oil Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said the market needs the oil price to appreciate to sustain investment in the sector. Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Fayadh al-Nema said he expected the oil price to be $55 to $65 per barrel in the second half of this year. Kuwaiti acting Oil Minister Anas al-Saleh said that oil at $50 to $60 a barrel is an appropriate price. Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada said that the atmosphere at the OPEC meeting was positive in reference to oil markets. He said a fair price to encourage investment would require crude to be above $50 per barrel. Angolan Oil Minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos believed that there was a possibility that he and his OPEC counterparts could reach a decision on a possible ceiling on the group's crude output. Botelho de Vasconcelos told reporters that an oil price of $60 was not bad, but "$80 would be better." Algerian Energy Minister Salah Khebri hopes OPEC will return to an oil output ceiling with production quotas for individual member countries. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/219150.aspx
