June 14, 2003, 3:50PM Houston Chronicle-Reuters News Service

LONDON -- The West's energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, made its largest revision to oil inventory data ever late last week, adding 79 million barrels to its estimate of oil stored in the industrialized world in March.

The healthier supply picture knocked world oil prices lower, and analysts said the appearance of such a large volume of oil backed up OPEC concerns of oversupply in the third quarter.

The agency said the timing of the unprecedented revision was unfortunate, given that the world market was seeking direction after the U.S.-led war on Iraq, but that it did not change its view that global markets were tight, especially for gasoline.

"The market is obviously better supplied than we thought as little as two weeks ago, but stocks are still low and fundamentals are still tight, so we need to build more stocks," said Klaus Rehaag, editor of the agency monthly oil market report.

Geoff Pyne, oil market consultant to Sempra Energy Trading, said the revision showed OPEC, which stayed its hand on output cuts earlier this week, was right to be concerned by surplus supply.

"All the signs from OPEC were that they knew that U.S. oil prices should not be at $31 a barrel. I thoroughly agree," Pyne said. "Stocks are still below normal and can absorb some surplus in the third quarter, but I think we have entered a stage when more supply is coming on the market and will impact prices."

After the revision, the energy agency said commercial inventories in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development stood at 2.417 billion barrels at the end of March.

Stocks fell at a rate of 570,000 barrels per day on average in the first three months of the year but switched to a rising trend in April, building by an average 720,000 barrels per day in that month.

The agency said industry stocks in the industrialized world at the end of April at 2.439 billion barrels were still 157 million barrels below the previous year.

Analysts have been waiting for extra supplies from OPEC to turn up in stock data for several months. Until the revision, some had been scratching their heads about "missing barrels," which appeared in production data but never showed up in consumer stocks.

"Some people didn't believe there were missing barrels, but the IEA has now produced half of them," Pyne said. "The other half do exist, possibly in oil at sea or in Caribbean storage, and will be used by the market."

OPEC crude output in May rose by 220,000 barrels per day, to 26.4 million barrels per day, the agency said, because of a recovery in Venezuela and Nigeria, where production was crippled earlier this year by strikes and ethnic clashes. Iraqi output was also rising.

OPEC ministers at Wednesday's meeting in Qatar agreed to leave their output ceiling of 25.4 million barrels per day unchanged.

<a href=www.newindpress.com>newindpress.comSunday June 15 2003 00:00 IST KOCHI: Stevia Rebaudiana, a South American medicinal herb known for its sweetness excelling that of sugar and saccharine, is slowly making a foray into the Kerala market. Stevia is considered to be diabetic-safe and a remedy for a number of diseases. Stevia, native to Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Paraguay, has several sweet-sounding names: Sweet Leaf of Paraguay, Honey Leaf and Candy Leaf in addition to a number of local names. A perennial shrub belonging to the Chrysanthemum family, the American Indians used `Caa-ehe,' as Stevia was called by them, for over 1500 years to sweeten unpalatable medicinal concoctions. The herb is sweeter than sugar and diabetic-safe,'' says Babu C J, proprietor of Kerala Herbal Nursery, the Thrissur-based private firm which has now started sales of Stevia Rebaudiana, though in a small way. The herb made its entry into India via Australia roughly a year ago, says Babu. An agency in Hyderabad started small-scale cultivation of the herb. Babu imported 5000 saplings into the State from Bangalore a week ago. The climate of Kerala is conducive for the cultivation of Stevia. The herb needs sunlight and water,'' he says. In its natural form, Stevia is approximately 10 to 15 times sweeter than sugar. The white powder extracted by drying the leaves is rated at 70 to 400 times sweeter than sugar. The herb is similar to the tulasi and grows to a height of two feet. The leaf of the plant is dried and powdered to use as a sweetener,'' Babu, who is based at Poothole at Thrissur. A Stevia sapling cost him Rs 35. Stevia has been used in the US and Japan as a popular alternative to sugar as it is considered diabetic-safe and calorie-free. In fact, Stevia accounts for 40 percent of Japan's sweetener market. Other medicinal uses include treatment of high blood pressure, obesity, tobacco and alcohol addiction, indigestion and fungal infections. The herb has also had its share of controversies. In the 1980s, the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) slapped a ban on the herb, allegedly under pressure from firms promoting artificial sweeteners which sensed competition. Eight years ago, the ban was lifted in the US with the implementation of the Health Freedom Act which approved Stevia for use as a sweetener. In Kerala, there is little information available on the medicinal properties of Stevia. Articles on Stevia describe it as a sweetener and safe for diabetic patients. However, there is little information on the herb in India at present. It is believed to be cultivated in one or two parts of the country though not in Kerala,'' according to Baby Joseph, head of the Department of Agriculture, Nagarjuna ayurveda pharmacy.

<a href=www.canada.com>Calgary Herald - Reuters Saturday, June 14, 2003

Oil prices fell nearly 3 per cent Friday after the International Energy Agency said big consuming countries were more comfortably supplied than it had previously thought.

U.S. light crude tumbled 86 cents to $30.65 a barrel, extending Thursday's sharp losses and pulling prices back from recent 12-week highs above $32.

London August Brent crude fell 83 cents to $26.39 a barrel.

Prices fell as the Paris-based IEA, energy adviser to 26 industrialized nations, said its previous estimate of oil stock levels was 79 million barrels too low. The agency's revised estimate put oil stocks in the industrialized world for the end of April at 2.439 billion barrels,

"Stocks are still below normal and can absorb some surplus in the third quarter, but I think we have entered a stage when more supply is coming on the market and will impact prices," said Geoff Pyne, oil market consultant to Sempra Energy Trading.

The IEA said the revision did not change its view that global markets were tight. Stocks are still 157 million barrels, or 6.5 per cent, below 2002.

"The market is obviously better supplied than we thought as little as two weeks ago, but stocks are still low and fundamentals are still tight, so we need to build more stocks," said Klaus Rehaag, editor of the IEA monthly oil market report.

"The increase in crude stocks may, however, signal some relief for an otherwise tighter heating oil situation later this year," he added.

Oil stocks have been drawn down this year by a harsh northern winter and supply disruptions from a strike in Venezuela, ethnic strife in Nigeria and the war in Iraq.

Iraq on Thursday sold its first oil since the U.S.-led invasion nearly three months ago, but looting and sabotage at oil facilities are expected to keep Iraq's exports well below prewar levels for several months.

The delays in Iraq's postwar export resumption enabled the OPEC producer cartel to postpone fresh supply cuts at Wednesday's meeting in Qatar.

OPEC, which controls about half the world's oil exports, decided to meet again in just seven weeks, on July 31, in case the return of Iraqi shipments undermines high prices.

<a href=www.khilafah.com>khilafah.com uploaded 14 Jun 2003

The OPEC oil cartel could be forgiven for feeling a touch of paranoia. Iraq, where it was born in 1960, has been invaded and occupied by the United States, and now Washington hawks call for "regime change" in Iran , another founder member.

Venezuela blames America for backing a failed coup attempt last year, and some in the Pentagon question the US alliance with Saudi Arabia, linchpin of the cartel.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has remained silent in the face of the threat to a growing number of its members, confining debate to the price of its oil.

Until now, that is. Venezuela, under the fiercely nationalist leadership of Hugo Chavez, has put the issue of sovereignty back to the top of the agenda at a recently revived long-term strategy meeting.

"We need to emphasize the idea that the world has left behind the colonial era, when one power could take by force the resources of another country," Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters after Wednesday's ministerial meeting in the Qatari capital.

"There are several countries which could feel threatened. "The proposal is some way from becoming policy of the group that controls half of world oil exports, and is unlikely to lead to any immediate threat to supplies. But the idea of tightening OPEC's grip over two-thirds of the world's oil reserves, and seeking to avoid military attack, has awakened interest from other members. "Of course, it is a serious concern that OPEC members with big oil reserves will become occupied by foreign powers," said a delegate from another of the 11-member group.

CREEPING BACK: OPEC made its name in the 1970s by nationalizing the Western-controlled oil companies in their countries, and forcing the industrialized world to pay higher prices for oil imports. But western capital has been creeping back into OPEC since the 1980s, while the United States, anxious to secure cheap supplies, has increased its military and political influence in key members such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and recently Iraq.

Under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, OPEC has traded the revolutionary rhetoric of the 1970s for talk of partnership with consuming countries in the West. Some in the cartel think the scale has tipped too far in favour of Washington and see the Iraq war as a bad omen.

"The United States can't continue to invent wars. We want to have a deal with the world powers - we will supply oil and gas, but you can't invade my country - after Iraq, who is next?" said an OPEC delegate, asking not to be named.

The Venezuelan proposal is to link the long-held OPEC principle of security of oil supply to the national security of OPEC nations themselves. If approved by OPEC ministers, it would be tabled at the next summit of OPEC heads of state, due to be held in 2005.

Some delegates believe that unless OPEC rediscovers its ideological roots - asserting sovereignty over its natural resources - the cartel could be destroyed by a resurgent US foreign policy, combined with the financial power of four "supermajor" oil companies.

The discussion could be welcomed by some members such as Iran and Libya, which are already under US sanctions, but face opposition from Saudi Arabia, which excludes politics from OPEC debates, partly to make the group a more focused market manager.

ECONOMIC WARFARE: Given the current climate in Washington, any attempt to give OPEC a more political agenda could also give fuel to critics who see the cartel is an instrument of economic warfare against the world's only superpower.

"We are trying not to let this get too political," said a delegate from a pro-US member. Venezuelan OPEC officials believe that country's experience with foreign investment in the 1990s, and what it sees as Washington's hand behind last year's coup attempt, could be repeated all over OPEC.

"We said that the case of Venezuela could be repeated in other OPEC members with very negative results, destabilizing countries," said Luis Vierma, Venezuela's deputy oil minister, who presented the ideas earlier in June.

Venezuela has also proposed that OPEC reinforce its sovereign powers by establishing a minimum royalty rate across the group, which has two-thirds of the world's oil reserves.

Royalty, a tax on gross production, has been a largely academic issue in OPEC since nationalization, because the producing companies have became fully owned by the OPEC states.

But they have become a hot topic again as foreign investment grows, especially because royalties have been eroded or even abolished in non-OPEC producers like Britain.

Income tax, which taxes profit rather than production, are more popular outside OPEC. Venezuela under Chavez has hiked its royalty rate to 30 per cent, but many other OPEC states have agreed to discounts to attract Western capital.

Posted on Sat, Jun. 14, 2003 By ALEXANDRA OLSON Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela troops fought pitched street battles Friday with supporters of President Hugo Chavez who tried to disrupt an opposition rally in an impoverished area of Caracas considered a government stronghold. At least 14 people were injured.

Troops in armored vehicles arrived at the scene while ''Chavistas,'' as the president's supporters are known, fought back, throwing bottles, rocks and firecrackers at security forces. They also looted a nearby police station after tearing down the walls with sledgehammers and metal rods.

Hundreds of national guard troops and police in riot gear launched tear gas grenades to disperse more than 100 rowdy government backers. Columns of black smoke rose from tires burning in the street and mingled with thick clouds of white tear gas.

Gunfire from unknown sources wounded one police officer and three civilians, said Caracas fire chief Rodolfo Briceno. At least 10 people were slightly hurt by flying objects, he added. The tear gas forced the evacuation of 25 children from a nearby hospital.

Ignoring government warnings that violence could erupt, opposition parties called the rally as part of a series of events in Caracas slums to prove Chavez's traditional support among the poor has evaporated.

Interior Minister Lucas Rincon pleaded with march organizers to take the protest to an area where there would be less potential for violence.