Crude oil prices fall after Blair says US needs a resolution

www.taipeitimes.com BLOOMBERG Sunday, Feb 02, 2003,Page 6

Crude oil fell after UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the US should seek a UN resolution authorizing force against Iraq before taking action to disarm the Persian Gulf oil producer.

Blair, the strongest supporter of US efforts to rid Iraq of banned weapons, met with President George W. Bush in Washington today. Oil prices have risen 23 percent in the past two months, spurred by war concern and a strike by oil workers in Venezuela.

The US plans to present evidence of Iraqi arms violations to the UN next week.

Crude oil for March delivery fell US$0.34, or 1 percent, to US$33.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, which gained 0.7 percent this week, are up 72 percent from a year ago. In London, the March Brent crude-oil futures contract fell US$0.11 to US$31.10 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.

Venezuela's oil production has increased five-fold this month to about 1.055 million barrels a day, strikers said in a press statement. They estimated output at 190,000 barrels a day on Jan. 1. Venezuela was producing about 3 million barrels daily before the nationwide strike began on Dec. 2.