NYMEX crude drops 48 cents in early ACCESS trade

Reuters, 01.12.03, 7:15 PM ET

SINGAPORE, Jan 13 (Reuters) - NYMEX crude futures fell 48 cents in opening off-hours dealings on Monday after the OPEC producers' cartel agreed to increase daily production by 1.5 million barrels to make up for strike-bound Venezuelan barrels.

Front-month February crude opened 38 cents down at $31.30 a barrel, and quickly skated to an early session low at $31.20.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed on Sunday to increase output by almost seven percent to fill a supply gap left by the opposition-led strike in Venezuela, which has taken two million barrels per day out of the world market.

The cartel's official production ceiling stands at 24.5 million bpd for the 10 members bound by quotas, effective February 1.

OPEC's 11th member, Iraq, exports crude under the United Nations' oil-for-food programme and is excluded from the group's official quotas.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service