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opec needs long-term strategy, says yamani
london, apr. 22, irna -- former saudi arabian oil minister zaki yamani
thursday welcomed opec's recent agreement to boost crude prices by
cutting production but warned more was needed than a 'quick fix'
solution.
last month's euphoria was a 'welcome change' to the doom and gloom
in the oil industry, he said. oil prices, which have since risen by 60
per cent to 16 dollars per barrel (dpb), could well go over 20 dpb, if
the cuts are rigorously implemented, he said.
in a keynote address to his center for global energy studies'
ninth annual conference, yamani suggested that while revenues will
begin to swell, ''another surge in non-opec production, could come
perhaps sooner than later and again and again opec will be under
pressure.''
instead of using the income, most of the 12-member countries in
the past have 'squandered billions on ill-conceived projects', he
said. at the same time, opec, with 77 per cent of the world's oil
reserves, has seen its share of production fall to 42 per cent.
what was needed was a ''long-term strategy to stabilise oil prices
and to bring opec's share of world oil production into better balance
with its reserves,'' the former saudi minister said.
also speaking at the two-day conference, president of italy's
enichem, marcello colitti, said that all international oil companies
were 'quite satisfied' to see prices recovering.
the low prices, he said, had led to his company to review its
upstream commitments and had not yet called off this review as the
recovery may not last for an extended period.
colitti argued the oil market had a tendency to fluctuate widely
but said ''it should not reverse the trend toward making a more
rational use of global oil resources.''
this, he said, should be ''through the elimination of politically
motivated artificial barriers to investment'' in new opportunities.
last month, his parent company eni joined elf of france in signing
an $540 million contract to refurbish iran's doroud offshore oil field
in defiance of u.s. sanctions threats.
hc/ah
end
::irna 22/04/99 21:00 |
