OPEC chief sees supply cuts enforced, demand weak

By Barbara Lewis

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - OPEC is expected to have fully delivered on its pledged supply curbs by the end of this month, said the group's Secretary-General on Wednesday, but a weak economy would continue to erode demand for fuel.

Abdullah al-Badri told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos that even an oil price of $50 a barrel was still too low to encourage investment in new supply. Oil was trading around $42 on Wednesday.

OPEC agreed last month at a meeting in Oran, Algeria, to cut output by 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January in a bid to prop up prices that have collapsed by more than $100 a barrel since the summer.

"Our compliance is excellent ... The way I see it, the 2.2 million barrels agreed in Oran will be 100 percent implemented," he said. "I hope that by the end of January, we will have taken out 4.2 million barrels per day."

The reduction of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) is in addition to cuts of 2 million bpd agreed in September and October.

"I hope that maybe after the 2.2 million bpd cut is implemented, somehow the balance will go back to the market," he said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets next on March 15 in Vienna.

A global economic slowdown has battered demand worldwide and Badri saw little hope that oil prices would revive until the economy improves.