To: BigBull who wrote (48387 ) 7/23/1999 11:05:00 AM From: BigBull Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 95453
Russia uses more of it's own? Cut's exports? I take all reports out of Russia with a grain of salt. This taken from Gulf Times:gulf-times.com Russia to cut oil exports in Q4 MOSCOW: Russia will reduce oil exports by 2mn tonnes in the fourth quarter of 1999, Energy Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny said in an interview published yesterday. "We have already reduced exports by 3mn tonnes in the third quarter and we have increased the quantity of oil available on the internal market by the same volume," he told the daily Nezavissimaia Gazeta. Kalyuzhny said the energy ministry has reached an agreement with Russian oil companies that will lead to better supply on the internal market. In return, the state will not raise export taxes. "They (the oil companies) are obliged to provide the regions with their production and if they do not want to do it we have ways of influencing them," he warned. At the end of March, Russia announced a reduction in oil exports of 100,000 barrels a day beginning April 1, in line with other oil producing nations' attempts to stem a slide in prices. Opec menbers pledged to reduce production by 1.7mn barrels a day, while non-Opec countries agreed to a reduction of 400,000 barrels a day to support prices. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday for a fresh round of talks as the two oil giants move to strengthen ties and keep rebounding crude prices on the rise. Kharazi brought with him a written message from Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, which he handed over to Crown Prince Abdullah during a meeting in Taif, some 900km west of Riyadh. The talks followed a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. As he left Iran, Kharazi said oil would dominate the two days of talks and stressed that Iran-Saudi co-operation was "indispensable" to keeping prices moving upward. A row between Iran and other members of the Opec over production quota levels was defused in March following a new cutback agreement between Opec and non-Opec members. Since then crude prices have risen to 20-month highs. - AFP