OPEC ministers to discuss oil crisis
europe.cnn.com Sunday, January 12, 2003 Posted: 8:58 PM HKT (1258 GMT)
Is OPEC pumping enough oil to promote global economic growth?
VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC leaders are meeting in Vienna to discuss raising oil production in a bid to slow rising prices.
OPEC -- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries -- called the meeting amid fears of supply problems caused by an ongoing strike in Venezuela.
The six-week old strike by political opponents seeking to oust President Hugo Chavez has forced a cut in the country's exports by about two million barrels a day.
Venezuela is normally OPEC's third-largest producer and a major oil supplier to the United States.
But Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi said OPEC's official output target of 23 million barrels a day should not be changed.
He told reporters that an increase in the target "would really flood the market."
OPEC pumps about a third of the world's crude supplies, which total 79 million barrels a day. (Feature)
Naimi acknowledged that the Venezuelan strike has deprived the market of crude, but said that OPEC's production ceiling should remain unchanged.
He declined to say how OPEC should try to compensate for the missing Venezuelan oil.
One possible solution would be for Venezuela's OPEC partners to increase their own production to cover the shortfall until Venezuelan exports can resume.
Neither Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez nor Ali Rodriguez, head of the country's state-run oil company, would say if he supported an increase in OPEC production.
Fears about a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq have increased the pressure on world oil prices.
Fears about a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq have increased the pressure on world oil prices.
Iraq has the second-biggest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.
"We have to see what quantity is required," said Obaid bin Saif Al-Nasseri, oil minister for the United Arab Emirates.
OPEC President Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said Venezuela's strike has caused "a little bit of a shortage," but he too refused to predict how much oil OPEC might add to the market to compensate.
"I've heard a lot of scenarios, a lot of numbers, but still we haven't reached the magic number," he said.