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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Sun May 23, 2004 1:08 pm US: More oil from Saudi Arabia |
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US: More oil from Saudi Arabia
Energy secretary says world's largest oil producer pledges to pump more oil in June.
May 23, 2004: 1:54 PM EDT
AMSTERDAM (CNN) - Saudi Arabia has agreed to increase its oil output starting next month by 28 percent and is "prepared" to increase output to its capacity of 10.5 million barrels per day, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Sunday after meeting with the Saudi oil minister.
Abraham said Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi agreed to the increase as OPEC ministers were meeting here to discuss rising oil prices and renewed calls from the United States to increase production.
The pressure increased Sunday as financial ministers from the world's leading industrialized nations gathered in New York and issued a joint statement calling for more oil from the world's producers.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries controls about 40 percent of the world's production and about two-thirds of the world's oil reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Its members include Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
OPEC Director-General Purnomo Yusgiantoro told reporters Saturday, the first day of the three-day informal meeting, that the organization is "deeply concerned" about the rise in prices.
When the group meets formally in Beirut on June 3, Purnomo said, the ministers will "do what we can do to assure market stability."
Abraham said the Saudis will boost their production from nearly 7.1 million barrels per day to 9.1 million -- a 28 percent increase.
Before the announcement, Abraham had said that "strong action is required" to bring down oil prices, which would translate into lower gasoline prices.
The United States is the world's largest consumer of oil, and record gasoline prices have spiraled into a key campaign issue for President Bush.
Oil analysts told CNN that OPEC has already raised production previously, a move that did not provide a long-term solution.
One of the biggest factors behind the price surge, analysts said, is limited U.S. refining capacity. The United States has had to import large amounts of gasoline -- crude oil refined elsewhere -- thereby increasing the strain on the overall oil market, the analysts said.
Many U.S. refineries have shut over the last two decades, and the operating ones face environmental regulations. But Abraham rejected suggestions that U.S. refinery capacity is to blame for the price hike.
"The big difference is not U.S. refinery capacity, it's world demand," he said.
Purnomo said oil ministers Saturday discussed "the many factors" that have driven crude oil prices higher in recent weeks.
On Friday, Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez said his country opposes any increase in OPEC oil supply, saying it would not help alleviate the recent spike in oil prices.
-- CNN Producer/Correspondent Jim Boulden contributed to this report.
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Copyright 2004 Reuters All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Find this article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/23/news/international/spencer.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sun May 23, 2004 1:17 pm |
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Well, I don't know quite what to make of this yet...
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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