THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: UK PRESS: Oil Capacity "Close To" Demand Says Shell's CEO: Speaking on the BBC's Breakfast With Frost program, van der Veer said compared with last year, "stock levels in the world are pretty normal." And oil prices may come down, as capacity rises, he said. (ShellNews.net) Posted 15 Nov 04

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON -- Present oil-production capacity is "fairly close to" actual demand, Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD, SC), said Sunday.

Speaking on the BBC's Breakfast With Frost program, van der Veer said compared with last year, "stock levels in the world are pretty normal."

And oil prices may come down, as capacity rises, he said.

"In a year's time, you may have more capacity than demand ... You have a bit of slack there, and if that happens, one can expect that prices get to different levels than we have seen over the past months."

Uncertainties about shrinking winter-fuel supplies have kept crude oil futures prices underpinned. Benchmark crude oil futures settled at $47.32 Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after rising as high as $49 a barrel Wednesday on supply worries.

-By Nina Koeppen, Dow Jones Newswires; 4420 7842-9496; nina.koeppen@dowjones.com