AUSTRIA: LEADING OPEC PRODUCER SAUDI ARABIA SAYS IT HAS MADE RENEWED EFFORT TO DEFLATE OIL PRICES
Record ID:
189771
AUSTRIA: LEADING OPEC PRODUCER SAUDI ARABIA SAYS IT HAS MADE RENEWED EFFORT TO DEFLATE OIL PRICES
- Title: AUSTRIA: LEADING OPEC PRODUCER SAUDI ARABIA SAYS IT HAS MADE RENEWED EFFORT TO DEFLATE OIL PRICES
- Date: 13th September 2004
- Summary: (W1) VIENNA, AUSTRIA (SEPTEMBER 13) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (NIGHT SCENES) 1. VARIOUS, SAUDI ARABIA'S OIL MINISTER ALI NAIMI GETTNG OUT OF CAR AND SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS 0.14 2. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALI NAIMI SAYING: "On the OPEC ban - as far as we are concerned we do not see a reason at this time to change or do anything with the ban. However, because we are together as a team, we are willing to listen to any ideas. At present time, we have no plans for a change" 0.42 3. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALI NAIMI SAYING: "Saudi Arabia today is producing 9,5 million barrels per day and the reason we are doing it is so we can help bring the price down. I think we are being very successful as Saudi Arabia and as OPEC to lessen the upward pressure on price. I believe we have been able to move it (the price) from close to 50 back to 40 and I think that is quite a success of OPEC and Saudi Arabia." 1.13 4. ALGERIAN OIL MINISTER CHAKIB KHELIL GETTING ARRIVING, GETTING OUT OF CAR 1.18 5. VARIOUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALGERIAN OIL MINISTER CHAKIB KHELIL SAYING: "My expectations are that we continue stabilizing the oil markets as have done in the past few months, and I think that's the best we can do right now." REPORTERS QUESTION (OFF CAMERA): Minister are you supporting the idea to raise the official ceiling. If other members came forward with the suggestion to increase the ceiling would you support that?" CHAKIB KHELIL RESPONDING: "Ceiling of the quotas? I think we have been doing it so think it would be just a matter of officializing that. What we have been doing is producing more than what the quota system has allocated." 2.12 6. WIDE OF MEDIA 2.16 7. VARIOUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAKIB KHELIL "I think we have basically suspended the quotas. Although, officially we haven't done it." REPORTER ASKING - Would you support if they made it official? (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAKIB KHELIL SAYING: "I actually suggested it myself and nobody wanted to make it official." 2.28 8. SLV MEDIA 2.33 10. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAKIB KHELIL SAYING: "I think what we are seeing now is what is reflected in the market and the market is reflecting the situation which is based on the fundamentals, but also based on the lack of spare capacity. But also the geopolitical concerns, they are there. I mean, based on just the collation of stock levels in a number of days in correlation with the price, we should be about 28 (USD per barrel). We are much higher than that. That's basically due to very tight spare capacity. You can demonstrate that the prices are a function of spare capacity and the geopolitical situation." 2.30 10. WIDE OF CHAKIB KHELIL ENTERING HOTEL SURROUNDED BY CROWD OF REPORTERS 3.48 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 28th September 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Reuters ID: LVABKXS6O4BQWT15GMZYCXVXQG1R
- Story Text: Leading OPEC producer Saudi Arabia said it had made
a renewed effort to deflate record high world oil prices by
upping crude output again, but he questioned the need to
raise official OPEC quotas to reflect higher actual
supplies.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, speaking ahead of a
Wednesday Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) meeting, said the cartel deserved credit for
knocking prices down from a $49-a-barrel peak in August,
even though benchmark U.S. crude closed on Monday at
$43.82, still too high for comfort for importing nations.
Naimi said Riyadh now was producing 9.5 million barrels
per day, more than one million barrels daily in excess of
its official quota and up 200,000 bpd from earlier this
summer.
The reason we are doing it is to bring the price down.
"I think we have been very successful as Saudi and as
OPEC to lessen the upward pressure on prices," the minister
told reporters on his arrival in Vienna.
Naimi said he saw no reason to raise formal OPEC quotas
to reflect actual production of nearly eight percent over
the groups official 26-million-bpd output limit.
That may mean previous expectations that OPEC will
legitimise existing quota-busting could prove wide of the
mark.
Algerian Energy and Mining Minister Chakib Khelil said
he would agree with OPEC raising its output quotas to match
current production, which he said was currently exceeding
the official ceiling by around two million barrels per day.
"It's a matter of officialising what we are doing now,"
Khelil told reporters.
Asked if he would go along with that if it were
proposed at OPECs Wednesday meeting, he replied: "Yes, I
would agree."
Whatever OPEC decides it will have little or no
immediate impact on real supply levels because all in OPEC,
bar Saudi Arabia, are pumping at full capacity.
But sanctioning existing quota-busting could make it
more difficult to rein in supplies should prices tumble
further.
And a decision for a small increase, or none, could be
read by traders as a signal that OPEC is preparing to pull
in its horns on production should prices lose another chunk.
Some of the factors that drove prices to a record in
August have eased. Worries over Saudi stability after the
May Khobar attacks have calmed, Venezuela's presidential
referendum passed quietly and Iraq is learning to deal
quickly with sabotage attacks and keep exports flowing.
World demand growth at its highest in a generation
caught out forecasters this year, but some insist
supply-demand fundamentals still justify lower prices.
OPEC will consider raising its official $22-$28 price
target, a decision that would show it is prepared to defend
a higher price when the crude market falls.
Several ministers favour a $5 rise to a central target
of $30 a barrel for an OPEC basket of crudes. Naimi said
Saudi preferred no change but was prepared to listen.
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