OPEC to Keep Output Unchanged, Merrill’s Blanch Says

(Bloomberg) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will probably keep output levels unchanged when it meets next month, according to Francisco Blanch, head of global commodity research at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

“OPEC probably stays put and that continues to keep upward pressure on prices,” Blanch said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “Certainly no more production cuts at this stage, no more are necessary.”

OPEC, responsible for about 40 percent of global supply, is due to meet in Vienna on Sept. 9 to review output targets. Crude futures, trading around $70 a barrel, are close to levels many OPEC ministers have identified as sufficient to ensure adequate revenue and investment in future supply.

Demand for crude, while “still very damaged” in Europe and “very, very weak” in the U.S. because of the recession, continues to grow in emerging markets such as China, Blanch said.