London:
Oil slipped below $64 on Friday with OPEC members issuing
fresh assurances about meeting world demand for crude.
The OPEC meeting comes in the backdrop of slowing demand
from the world market and the United States saying that
Hurricane Katrina had spared underwater pipelines.
"As
always, OPEC stands ready to supply additional oil to
the market when necessary," a statement said, restating
OPEC's policy of "ensuring that supply is at or above
demand."
In the United States, the government said Hurricane Katrina
had not caused major damage to underwater pipelines in
the Gulf of Mexico oil and the gas producing region, unlike
Hurricane Ivan last year.
US
light crude fell $1.25 to US$63.50 a barrel. London Brent
crude slipped $1.42 to 62.24.
The
price of crude has doubled in a two-year rally and economies
and industry are finally beginning to feel the strain.
OPEC and the West's energy watchdog, International Energy
Agency, have both trimmed their forecasts for oil demand
growth over the past week.
Meanwhile
French finance minister Thierry Breton called a meeting
with oil company chiefs on Friday to demand they do more
to help consumers. Total said it would invest 2.8 billion
euros in refining by 2010 to boost its French diesel output.
The British government is resisting calls to cut its hefty
taxes on petrol and diesel.
Analysts
say crude stocks are abundant and refiners have no need
of extra supplies, an argument supported by the U.S. government's
sale of only 11 million barrels of emergency reserves,
about a third of the total it had offered.
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