Paris (Platts)--4Apr2013/641 am EDT/1041 GMT

OPEC secretary general Abdalla el-Badri said Thursday that current oil prices of around $107/barrel would not harm the global economy but supported what he called the world's future energy path.

"We believe current oil prices support the energy future and will not harm the world economy," he said.

Badri, speaking at Petrostrategies' annual oil conference in Paris, acknowledged the emergence of shale gas and oil as an important development but made the point that the technologies associated with projects in this sector were costly and said their potential remained uncertain.

"We have already seen a slowdown in US shale gas drilling as natural gas prices fall," he said.

Badri said OPEC welcomed energy diversity and an expanded energy mix but pointed out that "every project has a breakeven cost associated with it" and that if oil prices were to fall below a certain level, many projects would be jeopardized. He did not give specific price levels.

--Margaret McQuaile, margaret_mcquaile@platts.com
--Edited by Maurice Geller, maurice_geller@platts.com

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