OPEC Vienna, April 3, IRNA -- The price of the OPEC basket of seven crudes stood at 25.76 dollars a barrel on Wednesday compared with 26.80 dollars of the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations here Thursday.

Wed 19 February 31.95
Thu 20 February 31.48
Fri 21 February 31.84
Mon 24 February 32.44
Tue 25 February 32.73
Wed 26 February 32.49
Thu 27 February 32.48
Fri 28 February 32.63
Mon 03 March 31.63
Tue 04 March 32.12
Wed 05 March 32.29
Thu 06 March 32.50
Fri 07 March 33.79
Mon 10 March 33.11
Tue 11 March 32.54
Wed 12 March 32.74
Thu 13 March 32.42
Fr 14 March 30.98
Mon 17 March 29.80
Tue 18 March 27.69
Wed 19 March 27.12
Thu 20 March 26.51
Fri 21 March 24.81
Mon 24 March 25.70
Tue 25 March 26.84
Wed 26 March 25.54
Thu 27 March 26.66
Fri 28 March 27.23
Mon 31 March 27.22
Tue 01 April 26.80

For the first quarter of 2002, the basket price averaged dlrs     

19.83 a barrel as opposed to dlrs 18.38 in the 4th quarter of 2001.
For 2001 as a whole, the price of the basket averaged dlrs
23.12 a barrel compared with dlrs 27.60 in 2000, dlrs 17.47 in 1999 and dlrs 12.28 in 1998.
The OPEC basket comprises Algeria's Saharan Blend, Indonesia's Minas, Nigeria's Bonny Light, Saudi Arabian Light, Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela's Ti Juana and Mexico's Istmus Crude.
MN/LS
End

<a href=reuters.com>Reuters Wed April 2, 2003 04:34 AM ET By Tom Ashby

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC exporters cut the cost of the Iraqi war to the West by releasing extra volumes of oil last month to prevent a spike in crude prices, according to a Reuters survey of cartel production. The United States' main allies in the Gulf -- Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- hiked output dramatically with Riyadh pumping at its highest rate in 21 years, the survey found.

Even U.S. foe Iran lifted supplies having publicly opposed any rise in exports on the grounds that it would signal a green light to Washington for an attack.

"The economic incentive to take advantage of high prices while they lasted proved to be stronger than political motives," said Geoff Pyne, consultant to Sempra Energy Trading.

The 11-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped an extra 440,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March to reach 27.65 million bpd on average, the survey of industry consultants and officials showed.

Excluding Iraq, where exports were cut just ahead of the war, 10 cartel members with quotas pumped an extra 1.77 million barrels a day to 26.45 million bpd. That is 1.95 million bpd above their self-imposed limits of 24.5 million.

The extra barrels were sorely needed by Western importing countries, which had drawn down commercial stockpiles over the winter due to cold weather and shortages from a strike in Venezuela.

Benchmark Brent crude oil prices slumped 17 percent in March, ending the month at $27.18 per barrel.

SAUDI LEADS GAINS

Saudi Arabia extended recent output gains to average 9.51 million bpd in March, its highest level since October 1981, but still short of its full capacity of 10.5 million bpd.

"Saudi Arabia had the chance to show that they are a reliable supplier to the United States. They did a good job," said George Beranek of Petroleum Finance Co in Washington.

Kuwait tapped surge capacity to reach 2.25 million bpd on average in March, despite the closure of some small fields on the Iraqi border ahead of the war.

OPEC's only Latin American member Venezuela recorded a sharp jump in March as its revolutionary government crushed a rebellion by managers and skilled workers in the state-owned oil company.

Iraq pumped an average of 1.20 million bpd in March, the survey found, starting the month at 2.2 million, but ending at just 300,000 bpd.

Exports stopped in the week leading up to the U.S.-led attack on March 20, and oil pumped for domestic use and smuggling also declined as the invasion gathered steam.

U.S. army engineers said they would take about three months to prepare Iraq's southern oilfields to resume exports, because of booby-traps and neglect.

Iraqi output is likely to fall sharply again in April during a full month that is expected to see only small volumes being pumped from its northern Kirkuk fields.

Nigeria, gripped by political violence ahead of mid-April elections, saw output slashed progressively from the middle of March. Losses reached 800,000 bpd by March 24.

Analysts said the extra output from Saudi and others was filling a hole in world markets left by Venezuela, Iraq and Nigeria, but it could create a surplus in the next few months. "There is plenty of oil around, and in the long run this is bearish," Pyne said.

The OPEC secretariat estimates an average call on OPEC oil this year of 24.65 million bpd, a full three million bpd below March's estimated output.

OPEC Secretary-General Alvaro Silva said earlier this week he was concerned about a glut of oil on world markets, especially in the second quarter when OPEC expects demand for its crude to fall to 23.10 million bpd.

The Reuters survey seeks a best estimate of flows from OPEC countries based on the views of officials, industry monitors and analysts inside and outside member countries.

Reuters, 04.01.03, 2:47 PM ET

NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - A pre-war hike in oil exports from top OPEC producer Saudi Arabia has unleashed enough global crude supply that the cartel will have to start thinking soon about production cuts, experts said Tuesday. Before the U.S. and British led invasion on Iraq, Saudi Arabia had already boosted supply to the highest level in 21 years. The kingdom's production rose by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.56 million bpd, according to Geoff Pyne, a Sempra (nyse: SRE - news - people) Energy oil consultant. Global supply has been further swelled by Venezuela's recovery from a two-month oil workers' strike. The extra Saudi and Venezuelan oil has compensated for supply interruptions from Iraq and Nigeria which have taken some 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) has been taken out of the 77 million bpd global market. "There is so much supply out there that OPEC is probably going to have to start thinking about scaling back some of this output in the not too terribly distant future, unless the Nigerian situation goes on for quite some time," said George Beranek, analyst with PFC Energy in Washington, D.C. Iraq's exports of about 1.7 million bpd have all but trickled to a halt after the U.N. removed monitors overseeing 'oil for food' exports. Clashes between tribes in Nigeria have shut in some 800,000 bpd of 2.2 million bpd exports there. While Nigeria's stoppage has resulted in tighter supplies of light sweet crude, which is particularly good for making gasoline in the run-up to summer, U.S. refiners are not panicking. Oil prices are more that $10 a barrel below 12-year highs hit in late February, falling another 4 percent to $29.67 a barrel on Tuesday. "Iraq's outage was probably the most anticipated supply disruption we've had in a very long time. The market has coped very well with the loss," said Beranek. In fact, the Iraq and Nigerian disruptions have simply given OPEC more breathing space before it will have to make production cuts over the next three months, experts said. "They (OPEC) don't want to have so much inventory built up in the second quarter that it becomes a liability before the end of the second quarter," said Beranek. Saudi Arabia could cut production to 9 million or 8.9 million bpd, said PFC Energy's Roger Diwan. During OPEC's meeting before the war in Iraq, the group killed a move by some members to suspend production quotas during war, but agreed to keep markets well supplied.

Printer-friendly format April 1, 2003, 11:59AM Reuters News Service

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Increased oil supply from other OPEC producers is making up for output disruption from cartel members Iraq and Nigeria, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Monday.

"We've seen a substantial increase in OPEC-10 production, more than enough to compensate for losses in Iraq and Nigeria," Abraham told reporters at a government-sponsored technology conference in San Jose.

Oil prices have risen 15 percent since the start of last week as ethnic strife cut off 40 percent of Nigeria's production and the United States warned hostilities in Iraq could last longer than some traders had expected.

Iraq's oil exports, which normally make up 4 percent of world oil shipments, have been at a standstill since the early days of the war. U.S. light sweet crude rose nearly 90 cents to close above $31 a barrel on Monday.

Other members of OPEC have ramped up output to cover for the loss of Iraqi exports, with Saudi Arabia hitting its highest production level for 21 years in March, according to industry consultants.

Abraham reiterated comments from the White House earlier on Monday that he had seen no evidence of a severe disruption in oil supply which would require a release of emergency oil reserves.

The Bush administration has been pressured by some members of Congress and consumer groups to tap the nearly 600-million-barrel emergency stockpile.

A prolonged loss of Nigerian and Iraqi supplies will make it harder to rebuild U.S. inventories already drained by a two-month oil workers' strike in key regional supplier Venezuela and a long, cold winter.

In the meanwhile, Abraham said Venezuela is quickly ramping up production.

While bloody clashes between warring factions in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta have disrupted oil output from Africa's biggest producer, Abraham said the United States continues to work with African energy ministries to develop West Africa's energy sector.

<a href=news.moneycentral.msn.com>Reuters March 31, 2003 9:52:00 PM ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Increased oil supply from other OPEC producers is making up for output disruption from cartel members Iraq and Nigeria, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said on Monday.

``We've seen a substantial increase in OPEC-10 production, more than enough to compensate for losses in Iraq and Nigeria,'' Abraham told reporters at a government-sponsored technology conference in San Jose, California.

Oil prices have risen 15 percent since the start of last week as ethnic strife cut off 40 percent of Nigeria's production and the United States warned hostilities in Iraq could last longer than some traders had expected.

Iraq's oil exports, which normally make up 4 percent of world oil shipments, have been at a standstill since the early days of the war. U.S. light sweet crude rose nearly 90 cents to close above $31 a barrel on Monday.

Other members of OPEC have ramped up output to cover for the loss of Iraqi exports, with Saudi Arabia hitting its highest production level for 21 years in March, according to industry consultants.

Abraham reiterated comments from the White House earlier on Monday that he had seen no evidence of a severe disruption in oil supply which would require a release of emergency oil reserves.

The Bush administration has been pressured by some members of Congress and consumer groups to tap the nearly 600-million-barrel emergency stockpile.

``We are prepared to use the strategic reserves if we need to do so, if a severe disruption in supply were to take place,'' Abraham said.

A prolonged loss of Nigerian and Iraqi supplies will make it harder to rebuild U.S. inventories already drained by a two-month oil workers' strike in key regional supplier Venezuela and a long, cold winter.

In the meanwhile, Abraham said Venezuela is quickly ramping up production. The government of the South American country, which is the world's fifth-biggest exporter, fired more than 16,000 oil workers and used replacement workers to restart plants after its crippling strike that lasted through January and February.

While bloody clashes between warring factions in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta have disrupted oil output from Africa's biggest producer, Abraham said the United States continues to work with African energy ministries to develop West Africa's energy sector.

``As a region, western Africa remains a very positive potential source of new reserves.''