<a href=www.timesofoman.com>Times of Oman, By Our Special Correspondent

MUSCAT — The purchasing power of oil producers has been largely hit by the fall in the value of dollar.

Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, president of Opec and Qatar’s minister of energy and industry, told the 125th extraordinary meeting of the orgainsation in Qatar that the falling value of the US dollar, especially against the euro was a matter of concern to the global economy.

Attiyah said the fall in the value dollar has negatively affected the purchasing power of oil producers’ revenues. Oil inventories in industrialised countries are relatively tight for this time of the year. This may serve to support oil prices in the coming months.

The conference has reviewed the decision taken on April 24, 2003, to reduce Opec-10’s actual production by two million barrels per day from the levels that prevailed during the events in Iraq, when oil producers increased output so as to assure consumers of steady supplies of crude during that period.

Opec chief said the fact that the cuts came into force on June 1, just 10 days ago, means that they have had little time to work their way through the market’s supply/demand balance, even though their influence on the psychology of the market was noticed much earlier.

“We have seen this reflected in the oil price trends, which has strengthened over the past months and the market is settling down again. However, we are still faced with uncertainty in several key areas,” Attiyah added.

The pace and the extent of the return of Iraqi crude to the market remain unclear at the present time, as this country, with its proud Opec heritage, seeks to re-establish itself on the world energy scene.

He welcomed observers from many leading non-Opec oil-exporting nations — Angola, Oman, Mexico, Russia and Syria — who have so often in the past been supportive to its efforts towards a stable and fair market. The presence of non-Opec countries emphasises once again the need for the co-operation of all parties in the petroleum industry – including consumers — if we are to achieve order and stability.

Harmony and understanding should prevail at all times in the oil market, to help it meet the energy needs of all nations — in a world that is increasingly aware of the importance of stable and secure energy supplies to the process of sustainable development, Attiyah said.

Though there was no decision on any future output cut, non-Opec producers believe that Opec would not allow the 1999 level of $10-a-barrel to repeat and its target of $25 a barrel for a basket of seven crude prices is reasonable.

Over the last six months, Opec member countries increased production significantly to accommodate supply disruptions in Venezuela, Nigeria and Iraq. The Vienna meet in April had reviewed estimated supply/demand levels for the second quarter of 2003 and decided to reduce actual production by 2mbpd (million barrels per day) to 25.4mbpd, effective from June 1.

The aggregate production levels for Opec-10 (Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Venezuela) has changed even more than one occasion.

Having reviewed the current oil market situation, as well as supply/demand prospects for the second half of the year, yesterday’s conference noted that stability had been maintained in the market following the decision taken by the conference in April 2003 to reduce actual production to 25.4 mbpd with prices remaining within agreed levels. Nevertheless, the conference also noted that despite the fact that the market remains well-supplied, prices displayed an upward trend, recently, due to the slower-than-anticipated recovery in Iraqi production, coupled with unusually low stock levels. However, with low stock levels anticipated to be replenished during the third quarter, the Conference decided to maintain currently agreed production levels, with strict compliance, and emphasised that continued vigilance in monitoring market developments is imperative over the coming period.

Las Autoridades de la Universidad Metropolitana tienen el agrado de invitar al público en general al Seminario: CAPITAL SOCIAL ÉTICA Y DESARROLLO: Los desafíos de la Gobernabilidad Democrática

FECHA: Miércoles 25 y Jueves 26 de Junio de 2003. LUGAR: UNIVERSIDAD METROPOLITANA, Auditorio Thomas Alva Edison. Caracas - Venezuela.

PARA INSCRIBIRSE, BAJE LA PLANILLA EN LA SIGUIENTE DIRECCIÓN ELECTRÓNICA: www.unimet.edu.ve

EL PROGRAMA DEL SEMINARIO LO PUEDE VER EN LA SIGUIENTE DIRECCIÓN ELECTRÓNICA: www.unimet.edu.ve

INFORMACIÓN SOBRE TRASLADOS, HOTELES, ETC., EN LA SIGUIENTE DIRECCIÓN ELECTRÓNICA: www.unimet.edu.ve

Lo invitamos a leer el artículo del Dr. José Ignacio Moreno León, donde hace referencia a este importante tema, en la dirección electrónica: www.unimet.edu.ve

Asimismo, lo invitamos al seminario CAPITAL SOCIAL: CAPACIDAD EMPRENDEDORA Y MIPYME'S, el viernes 27 de junio. Más información en la dirección: www.unimet.edu.ve

LO INVITAMOS A VISITAR NUESTRA PAGINA PERMANENTE SOBRE CAPITAL SOCIAL , EN LA SIGUIENTE DIRECCIÓN ELECTRÓNICA: www.unimet.edu.ve  

PATROCINADO POR:

INICIATIVA INTERAMERICANA DE CAPITAL SOCIAL, ÉTICA Y DESARROLLO DEL BANCO INTERAMERICANO DE DESARROLLO (BID).

UNIVERSIDAD METROPOLITANA.

MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR..

CORPORACIÓN ANDINA DE FOMENTO (C.A.F.)

GOBIERNO DE NORUEGA.

CON EL AUSPICIO DE:

• Oficina de Planificación del Sector Universitario, República Bolivariana de Venezuela. (OPSU).
• Universidad Central de Venezuela.(UCV)
• Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.(UCAB)
• Universidad del Zulia.(LUZ)
• Universidad Simón Bolívar.(USB)
• Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana.(UNEG).
• Michigan State University.
• Real Embajada de Noruega.
• Embajada de Brasil.
• Sinergia.
• Banco de Venezuela.
• Procter & Gamble.
• Conciencia Activa. Coperativa Quebrada Azul.
• Fe y Alegría.
• Fundación Polar.
• Proactiva.
• Statoil.

Conozca algunas de las ponencias que serán ofrecidas en el seminario, en la siguiente dirección: www.unimet.edu.ve

Si tiene alguna idea para tratar en los talleres sobre los temas a ser expuestos por los invitados, envíelos al correo electrónico: amorchain@unimet.edu.ve

INFORMACIÓN SOBRE TRASLADOS, HOTELES, ETC., LA PUEDE ENCONTRAR EN LA SIGUIENTE DIRECCIÓN: www.unimet.edu.ve

Para mayor información. Universidad Metropolitana: Tel: 241.48.33 / 243.33.42 Atención: Dra. Cecilia Vicentini: ext.:530 cvicentini@unimet.edu.ve Tel: 241.51.74 Ext: 216 - 320 - 453 Lic. Gladys Vázquez. Ext.: 388 gvazquez@unimet.edu.ve

ABU DHABI, June 11 (<a href=www.arabtimesonline.com>AFP) - The OPEC Fund agreed to lend a fresh 250 million dollars to the private sector in poor and developing countries at a meeting in Abu Dhabi Wednesday, the fund's director general told AFP. This will take to 500 million dollars the total of loans extended to the private sector in these countries, Y. Seyid Abdulai said. Finance ministers from the member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries held the annual meeting of the OPEC Fund in the absence of member Iraq, and Abdulai said they had not discussed extending reconstruction assistance to the war-torn country. He had told reporters on Tuesday that aid to Iraq might come up during the meeting. Although the OPEC Fund does not provide assistance to its member countries, "Iraq is a special case. The ministers can discuss whatever they want and whom to fund," Abdulai said. The ministers from Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela were told that lower oil production had impacted economic growth in OPEC member states but steady oil prices would see better growth this year. "In our own member states, average growth moderated to 1.8 percent in 2002 from 2.6 percent in 2001, mainly reflecting oil production cutbacks," said Saleh al-Omair, chairman of the fund's governing board. "But growth in our member countries should gather pace, supported by continued firm oil prices and fiscal stimuli," he added. OPEC announced at the end of an extraordinary meeting in Qatar Wednesday that it would maintain its current production ceiling of 25.4 million barrels per day (bpd) at least until July 31 when it meets in Vienna to discuss Iraq's return to the market, but urged members to comply strictly with quotas. With a capital of 3.435 billion dollars, the OPEC Fund committed to loans totaling 6.6 billion dollars until April this year, with actual disbursements reaching 4.43 billion dollars.

The Associated Press DOHA, Qatar June 11 —

OPEC ministers decided Wednesday to maintain current production levels at least until the end of July, the president of the oil cartel said.

Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah told reporters initially the 11-nation cartel would preserve its output level until its next scheduled meeting in September. But he later said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would hold an extraordinary meeting on July 31 to reassess the situation.

"Then we will have some options either to cut production or not. That is what we need to decide," al-Attiyah said.

Al-Attiyah, who is also the oil minister of Qatar, said the July meeting would look at the impact of Iraq's return to the oil market.

Oil prices initially moved slightly lower in the wake of the announcement, but were trading higher for the day by early afternoon in New York.

Before the decision was made, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said he expected OPEC to maintain current output "for two to three months." Venezuelan Deputy Oil Minister Luis Vierma said he thought OPEC might be able to keep present the production ceiling of 25.4 million barrels a day until the end of the year.

The OPEC ministers also pleaded for greater self-discipline, urging member states to stop exceeding production quotas.

"The conference decided to maintain currently agreed production levels with stricter compliance of designated quotas," OPEC spokesman Omar Farouk Ibrahim told reporters.

Attracted by high prices, member states have been exceeding their designated quotas and have oversupplied the market by about 1.5 million barrels a day.

The oil minister of the United Arab Emirates, Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri, called for members to respect their quotas.

"The market is comfortable, but we should think ahead to the third quarter," which begins July 1, al-Nasseri said Tuesday.

He estimated overproduction by the 10 OPEC nations, excluding Iraq, at 1.5 million barrels a day. That means the group is pumping 26.9 million barrels a day onto the market.

"We should look into reducing actual production of member states" rather than adjust the ceiling, al-Nasseri said.

"OPEC must be very careful in handling Iraqi's return," Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters earlier Wednesday.

Iraq, which was excluded from OPEC's quota schedule during the 12 years of U.N. sanctions, says it hopes to export 1 million barrels a day by the end of June and 2 million barrels a day by the end of the year.

Analysts say that is too optimistic in view of the state of Iraq's oil industry, which suffered war damage, postwar looting, a chronic shortage of spare parts during the sanctions period. Before the war began in March, Iraq pumped around 2.5 million barrels a day.

Members of the 11-nation cartel differed over when Iraq was expected to resume oil exports, and when the OPEC would need to curb production in order to accommodate Iraqi supplies.

"The pace and the extent of the return of Iraqi crude to the market remain unclear," OPEC President Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said in his opening speech to Wednesday's meeting, at which Iraq was not represented.

Kuwait's acting oil minister, Sheik Ahmad Fahd al-Ahmad, said Iraq needed until September to raise its production to 2 million barrels a day, and that OPEC production could remain unchanged until then.

"From now until September, Iraq will need (to do) a lot to reach the level of production," Sheik Ahmad said. "For that, we still have time to continue our ceiling."

OPEC's al-Attiyah foresees Iraq pumping 1 million barrels a day of oil by the third quarter. He has urged producers to take steps to avoid a glut and price crash.

An OPEC meeting before the scheduled one in September had been seen as necessary to discuss not only Iraq's return but also the high level of oil prices. Prices have hovered around the upper limit of OPEC price band of $22 to $28 a barrel.

OPEC's basket of seven crude oils averaged $27.53 a barrel on Monday. Oil prices hit a three-month high in New York, nearly reaching $32 a barrel.

On Wednesday, July contracts of light sweet crude were up 62 cents at $32.35 a barrel in afternoon dealings in New York. In London, North Sea Brent for July rose 32 cents to $28.40.

If OPEC members do manage to comply with their quotas, an American national industry report has predicted that U.S. consumers may have to pay more per gallon as demand increases during the summer vacation months.

"Gasoline prices are already rising in some parts of the country on a spotty basis," the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations reported Sunday. "Considering the latest crude oil developments, it's likely gasoline prices are turning round and will soon rise."

Non-OPEC producers are also concerned about the impact of Iraqi oil when it comes on stream. Russia and Mexico sent delegates to the Wednesday meeting.

<a href=www.agweb.com>AGWeb.com by Guest Editorial by John Reifsteck, Champaign, IL, Board Member

Too much of our national discussion on energy policy has focused on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This center-stage debate really ought to be nothing more than a sideshow. We should spend less time arguing about drilling for oil and more time thinking about how we might grow our fuel instead.

At last, Congress is on the brink of passing new legislation on biofuels. A vital component of a big energy bill now includes refinery requirements that would double the nation's use of ethanol.

That's great news for farmers, workers, and motorists. A recent study by the National Association of Farm Growers says that doubling the use of ethanol would increase farmers' incomes by $1.3 billion per year, create 214,000 jobs, and lower the price of gasoline at the pump.

Yet, there's much more at stake here. About 56 percent of our country's oil is imported--and this figure is expected to go up in the years ahead. We're simply becoming too reliant on the natural resources of foreign countries. It's great that we can trade with them, but our energy needs are too critical to leave them vulnerable to the whims of political rulers in places like Iran and Venezuela.

Ethanol now supplies 1 percent of America's motor fuel, so doubling its use wouldn't free the United States from its dependence on foreign oil. But it's a start. As the Washington Post noted last week, "If [ethanol] production doubled to 5 billion gallons in 2012, it would displace about 200 million barrels of oil that would otherwise be imported by U.S. refiners to make gasoline--roughly the amount of oil imports from Iraq in 2002."

There have been a couple of arguments against biofuels; producing them is too expensive, and it takes more energy to produce them than they provide to motorists. That's not true. The latest data from the federal government suggest that ethanol creates more energy than it uses. "The amount of energy needed to produce ethanol is about 30 percent less than the value of ethanol as a fuel," says Blake Early of the American Lung Association--a group that backs the new energy provision in Congress because it would lead to cleaner air. Furthermore, we are getting more efficient at producing biofuels. Higher yielding crops along with more efficient manufacturing means biofuels are getting more competitive with petroleum-based fuels every day.

These new figures are encouraging, and the number-crunchers have a significant role to play in determining the costs and benefits of ethanol. But they also miss some of the big-picture questions that can't be compressed into an accountant's spreadsheet.

What, for instance, is the cost of our country's involvement in the Persian Gulf? Perhaps we can assign a dollar value to it--but even that only captures a portion of the real burden. There are political and diplomatic costs as well. Wouldn't it be great if we could free ourselves entirely from our dependence on the oil reserves in Iraq, or some similar country? The more you think about it, the better home-grown biofuels look.

In his Farewell Address to the nation, George Washington warned America against entangling alliances. The father of our country could not have envisioned today's fuel-driven technologies, but his words still matter. And what could be more entangling than our heavy reliance on foreign oil?

Developing more resources here at home won't solve all of our energy problems, but it's a step in the right direction. We need a firm commitment to biofuels, and not just ethanol. At Southern Illinois University, researchers are studying how to turn everything from discarded cornhusks to chicken droppings into the fuel that can power our planes, trains, and automobiles. In Europe and Asia, biodiesel is the popular "green fuel" of choice and North American consumers are steadily increasing their support of this renewable, environmentally friendly fuel.

Biotechnology is an important partner in this quest. Through the miracle of genetics, we've built a better corn plant that wards off pests, conserves soil, and boosts yield. In the future, we may create one that's an even more efficient producer of the fuel we need. When we as consumers continue to look for and use renewable, environmentally friendly energy choices, industry will continue to invest in new technologies that have the promise of improving the efficiencies even more. That's a win.

Before we get there, however, we'll need a firm commitment from the federal government signaling that it understands the nature of the problem--as well as the promise of the solution.

Truth About Trade and Technology (www.truthabouttrade.org) is a national grassroots advocacy group based in Des Moines, IA formed by farmers in support of freer trade and advancements in biotechnology.