沙特呼籲歐佩克維持產量

Saudi Arabia’s new energy minister rallied Opec support for maintaining production on Thursday, as a near-doubling of crude prices since January eased tensions among oil exporters.

沙特阿拉伯新任能源部長週四呼籲石油輸出國組織（Opec，簡稱歐佩克）支持維持石油產量不變，自今年1月以來，原油價格上漲近一倍，緩和了石油出口國之間的緊張。

Khalid Al Falih said the 13-member group should “encourage the rebalancing” of the market as prices recover from the worst crash in more than a decade.

哈立德•法力赫(Khalid Al Falih)表示，隨着油價從10多年來最嚴重暴跌回升，擁有13個成員國的歐佩克應“鼓勵市場再平衡”。

But he told reporters at the Opec meeting in Vienna that it was “premature” to try and restrict output, as demanded by some of the hardest hit exporters, when production growth was already declining and demand was responding to lower prices.

他在歐佩克在維也納召開的會議上告訴記者，在產量增速已在下滑且需求正對較低油價做出迴應之際，試圖像一些受到最沉重打擊的出口國所希望的那樣限制產量還“爲時過早”。

“We feel the market is rebalancing as we speak,” Mr Falih said, adding Riyadh wanted “to work collaboratively . . .[to] steward the market back to equilibrium”.

法力赫表示：“我們覺得，此時此刻市場正在再平衡。”他補充稱，沙特阿拉伯希望“合作致力於……引導市場迴歸均衡”。

Weaker Opec members, such as Nigeria and Venezuela, had called for more robust co-ordinated action to boost the price further as they face economic and political crises. But even they seemed content to put on a largely united front for the group.

尼日利亞和委內瑞拉等較爲弱小的歐佩克成員國曾呼籲採取更強勁的協調行動以進一步提高油價，這些國家正面臨經濟和政治危機。然而，就連這些國家現在也滿足於該組織採取基本團結的姿態。

Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s oil minister, reflected the mood of the meeting, saying: “The market is doing good.”

尼日利亞石油部長艾瑪努爾•伊比•卡其庫(Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu)在談到此次會議的情緒時表示：“市場表現不錯。”

Brent, the international benchmark, has soared 80 per cent since touching a low for the year in late January. It hovered around $50 a barrel on Thursday.

自今年1月底觸及最低點以來，國際油價基準布倫特原油價格(Brent)已飆升80%，週四盤旋在每桶50美元左右。

West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark that has soared almost 90 per cent since its low for the year, was trading just above $49.

美國原油基準西得克薩斯中質原油(West Texas Intermediate)價格已較今年最低點飆升近90%，昨日位於每桶略超過49美元的水平。