Iran watching Libyan oil carefully

UPI -- With Libyan oil expected back on the market after the war, members of OPEC should consider making appropriate adjustments, an Iranian official said.

Some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries made unilateral decisions to increase production to offset declines in production from war-torn Libya.

OPEC, at its regular summer meeting, however, kept official production quotas static despite concerns that higher energy prices could hurt global economic recovery. The International Energy Agency, in an apparent response, called on members to release oil from strategic reserves to compensate for Libyan declines.

Mohammad Ali Khatibi, the Iranian governor to OPEC, was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying "oversupply can affect prices" and it is therefore "necessary to manage the supply (of oil)."

Energy companies that had worked in Libya are starting to return to the country, though they concede some of the infrastructure was damaged by war.

Iranian officials added that they considered the current price for oil fair. Crude oil prices are down more than 15 percent from early September but West Texas Intermediate crude oil rallied to almost $80 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Iran is considered a price hawk in OPEC. The next meeting of the oil cartel is scheduled for December.