Opec's will tolerate oil prices below $90

Oil prices may be $20 off April's $127-a-barrel peak but there is no panic in Riyadh, Kuwait City or Abu Dhabi. Far from it. Oil policy officials in the capitals of Opec's Gulf Arab price doves Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE are relaxed and won't be losing sleep if prices fall further. One senior official in the region told Reuters those producers are unlikely to reduce supplies to try to stem a decline in oil prices unless crude falls below $90 a barrel for a sustained period. Others did not specify an ideal price range but said they would maintain high output and could tolerate a further decline in prices. Brent crude traded around $107 on Wednesday, has fallen some $15 since the start of August as the economic outlook darkened and following the release of strategic consumer reserves and extra supplies from Gulf Opec producers in June. The prospect of Libyan oil returning to the market after a first post-war cargo shipped on Tuesday is also beginning to weigh on prices. Libya is hoping to restore full output in 12-15 months.