OPEC Ministers Prepare to Avert Shortage
OPEC Ministers Prepare to Avert Shortage VOA News 11 Jan 2003, 20:00 UTC
Saudi Arabia's oil minister says the OPEC cartel will act to prevent disruptions in global petroleum markets, as the possibility of war with Iraq looms and Venezuela's labor unrest continues.
Minister Ali al-Naimi said there will be no shortage and that the price of oil, now at a two-year high above $33 per barrel, will fall after OPEC ministers hold an emergency meeting Sunday in Vienna.
The ministers from OPEC's 11 member nations must determine how much additional crude oil to pump into global markets in order to maintain a price within their target range of $22 to $28 a barrel.
The United States has been urging the cartel to boost production to make up for disruptions in Venezuela's oil exports. In normal times, Venezuela supplies about 13 percent of U.S. oil imports, but those exports have fallen to a virtual standstill during Venezuela's six-week general strike.
Washington is also concerned that potential war against Iraq could cause further disruptions in the global oil supply.
OPEC Holds Emergency Meeting to Discuss Production Increase Melaine Sully - Vienna 11 Jan 2003, 20:32 UTC
OPEC headquarters, ViennaThe Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries holds an emergency meeting in Vienna Sunday to discuss an increase in the production of crude oil. Delegates from the 11 member nations of OPEC gather for the second time in a month at their Vienna headquarters.
The cartel is expected to increase its official output quota, some officials speculate, by one million, or 1.5 million barrels per day, to make up the shortfall caused by a six-week-old strike in Venezuela, a major supplier to the United States. Saudi Arabia wants a bigger increase, but Algeria and Libya are pressing for a million barrel per day increase, which would represent about a four percent rise over the current output of 23 million barrels per day.
Any increase would become effective from February 1, and would be reviewed at the next regular meeting of the OPEC ministers on March 11.