OPEC nations postpone 35 oil projects: Cartel official

OPEC nations have collectively postponed 35 oil drilling projects as low crude prices deter investment, a top OPEC official said in London.

OPEC nations have collectively postponed 35 oil drilling projects as low crude prices deter investment, a top OPEC official said in London on Monday.

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OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said the delayed projects had been shelved indefinitely.

"These projects are on hold... and will continue to be until the (oil) price recovers," Badri told reporters attending an energy conference in London.

The delayed projects are from among a total of 150 that OPEC states had planned to deliver over the next decade, he added.

OPEC nations pump about 40 percent of the roughly 86 million barrels of oil consumed globally every day.

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have seen oil revenues tank in recent months, with crude prices falling to around 40 dollars a barrel in New York on Monday from a record high of above 147 dollars in July. Crude futures have slumped as a global economic slowdown hits demand for energy.

Badri had last week insisted that OPEC members needed an oil price of above 50 dollars a barrel to make exports worthwhile.