OPEC minister tips $70 as target oil price

Crude oil's fall in recent months would help support a sagging world economy, but needed to be at levels that encouraged investment, two OPEC producers said in New Delhi on Wednesday.The global financial crisis, the worst since the 1930s, has pushed much of the industrialised world into recession, causing oil demand to slump and crude prices to tumble by more than $100 from its record peak above $147 a barrel last July.

Speaking at a Petrotech conference in India Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah Al Attiyah, suggested a target price of $70 was needed - about 80 percent higher than the current level - to encourage investment.

Saudi oil minister Ali Al Naimi told delegates that oil prices should be stable and more predictable, adding that he was especially committed to the needs of growing Asian markets.

And Angola's deputy oil minister said nobody was happy with the present level of prices.

"Stability means oil prices maintained at a level that encourages investment, helping create a climate conducive for the development of all viable energy sources," Al Naimi said.

On Tuesday, Al Naimi said on the sidelines of the conference that the world's top exporter would cut output next month to below its OPEC target and was prepared to go even further to arrest the fall in prices.

Talks of production cuts and cold weather in the US helped oil rise 3 percent towards $39 a barrel on Wednesday, although it later slipped back below $38 after news of worse-than-expected US retail sales figures that depressed stock markets and hit the dollar.

"The price of oil ... has declined in recent months by more than 70 percent since reaching their highest level in July - a drop that will play a major role in aiding economic recovery," Al Naimi said.