Oil ministers say they are happy with prices

VIENNA (AP) — OPEC appeared ready to focus on its old problem of member compliance with production limits at its meeting in Vienna, as oil ministers mostly said they were happy with oil prices — a clear suggestion they wouldn’t cut output.

“Everything is in good shape,” said Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, whose country is OPEC’s top producer and widely seen as the group’s kingpin. Crude’s current price “is good for everybody — consumers and producers,” he told reporters in Vienna as OPEC ministers began arriving ahead of today’s meeting.

Oil ministers from the 12- member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries face vastly different circumstances than they did late last year, when they announced a record 4.2-million- barrel-per-day production cut from September 2008 levels.

In their favor are crude prices of nearly $70 per barrel, roughly double their level at the start of the year. In addition, the global economic meltdown that had destroyed crude demand and deprived the oil producing bloc of its key export revenue source is showing signs of abating.

But the group also faces some stiff challenges.

Quota compliance, which had been the focus of much of the group’s efforts since it announced in December a record 4.2 million barrel per day output cut from September 2008 levels, is eroding — down to about 70 percent, according to analysts.