OPEC ups demand growth estimate, will not increase production

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries upped its prediction for oil demand growth for 2011 by 50,000 barrels per day on Monday, to 1.2 million barrels per day, with demand for oil from OPEC member nations expected to average 29.4 million barrels per day, 40,000 barrels over demand last year.
OPEC oil ministers also said that the cartel would not increase output despite higher prices.
While the OPEC ministers were not bothered by oil prices that have returned to nearly $100 per barrel, the head of the International Energy Agency expressed concern that prices at present levels could hurt economic recovery.
US markets were closed to floor trade in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday, but in electronic trade West Texas Intermediate Crude was down just over half a dollar to $91.02 per barrel at early afternoon in New York, while Brent crude had most recently dropped 81 cents to $97.57 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London..
Meanwhile, the retail pirce of regular unleaded gasoline dropped slightly overnight, to $3.096 per gallon on average in the United States.