Roebear, Natural gas demand here to stay... Also here's an OPEC-related article that I did not see posted this morning....
Tuesday May 18, 7:30 am Eastern Time
FOCUS-Yousfi says OPEC must hang tough on oil
cuts
By Rawhi Abeidoh
RABAT, May 18 (Reuters) - OPEC President Youssef Yousfi of Algeria warned on
Tuesday that the international oil market remained precariously balanced because of extremely high stocks.
Yousfi praised producers inside and outside OPEC for honouring production cuts forged in March, but said the supply curbs must stay in force, as agreed, until March 2000 to prevent any new price falls.
''The supply-demand balance remains precarious. Stock levels are still extremely high mainly due to stockpiling during last year with the risk of a negative impact on prices,'' Yousfi, Algeria's oil minister, said.
''It is essential in this respect to maintain the reductions to the level agreed upon and for the period considered, that is until March 2000,'' he added in a statement in response to Reuters' questions.
OPEC producers agreed in March that supply curbs must remain in place for a year to end-March 2000 but some OPEC ministers have said recently that if prices rose too high before then the agreement might have to be reviewed.
But Yousfi said: ''We must remain prudent, vigilant and continue to respect scrupulously our agreement in order to avoid any new price deterioration.''
He said he was ''highly satisfied'' that the new output limits had produced positive results but noted that oil prices still were
lower than in 1996 and 1997.
Oil prices staged a swift recovery after OPEC members and four other producers agreed in March to cut output by around 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) to prop up prices that fell to below $10 a barrel in February.
Benchmark Brent blend traded above $17.10 in early May but since has slipped back and on Tuesday was valued at $15.55 a barrel.
Yousfi said exporting countries remained in close contact to keep the market under review.
''Being in permanent consultation with these countries, we have received full assurances for effective adherence to the March
commitments,'' he said.
''We can confirm today that all exporting countries, OPEC and Non-OPEC members have actually reduced their production
or their export levels.''
''We have strong reasons to believe in these assurances and are confident in their full implementation,'' he added.
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