Purnomo sees oil prices falling further, supply return to normal

Global oil supplies are back at normal levels and oil prices should fall further after recent record highs, OPEC president Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Friday as quoted by AFP.

"(Oil) supply is normal again, with adequate stocks ... we expect prices to keep falling," Purnomo told reporters.

Asked if the downtrend will continue into the first quarter of next year, Purnomo said demand for oil will rise but OPEC's production should be sufficient to meet the demand.

Oil prices eased further overnight on expectations that China's interest rate hike will curb energy demand.

Crude oil for December delivery fell to its lowest level in three weeks at 50.92 dollars on the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight as the market judged that China's hike in interest rates will dampen its demand for energy.

Purnomo said OPEC had yet to decide whether to raise its output quota again when the members meet in Cairo in December.

At its previous meeting in Vienna last month, OPEC raised the quota by one million barrels per day to 27 million. Earlier this week, Purnomo said OPEC's production was already exceeding the quota by two million barrels per day. (*)