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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Justa Werkenstiff who wrote (14402)	6/13/2000 6:09:00 AM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15132

Iran Says OPEC Doesn't Need to Pump More Oil Now Tehran, June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Iran, OPEC's second-biggest oil producer, said there's no need for OPEC to pump more oil at present to curtail prices because the world has abundant supplies of crude. ``Any talk about an increase in OPEC oil production is still premature because there's no shortage in crude supplies,'' said Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. Iran, which boosted output in April after opposing OPEC's March agreement to do so, wants oil ``to stabilize between $22 and $28 a barrel,'' he said in a statement today. With one week to go before the 11-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna, divisions are once again emerging within the group. Those states with limited capacity to raise production -- including Iran, Algeria, Qatar, Iraq and Libya -- have said they oppose moves by the group's biggest member, Saudi Arabia, to boost output quotas for a second time this year. Crude oil rose to a three-month high yesterday on concern any increase in supply would be too little to meet demand in the months ahead, leaving U.S. inventories low ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter. Crude oil for July delivery rose $1.54, or 5 percent, to $31.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are 73 percent higher than a year ago. Pressure is mounting on producers from the U.S., the world's biggest consumer, to raise output to lower prices that could increase inflation and stunt world economic growth. The U.S. wants OPEC to increase production soon, and by more than the 500,000 barrels a day, the Middle East Economic Survey has reported. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are the only OPEC members that have sufficient capacity to meet immediate demand for large amounts of new oil, and some of their colleagues appear unwilling to agree to an output increase that they may not benefit from. Global Inventories ``Global inventories soared about 2 million barrels a day over the last two months, that means there's plenty of crude out there already,'' said Ramzy Salman, an adviser to the oil minister of Qatar, OPEC's smallest member. A report from the International Energy Agency appears to back up the opposing voices within the group even though crude prices continue to reach record highs. World oil demand in the second quarter will likely average 74.4 million barrels a day, down 650,000 barrels from forecasts last month, the IEA said last week. Inventories in Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development countries rose 1.75 million barrels a day in April. OPEC, excluding Iraq, decided in March to boost output by 1.7 million barrels a day, and said it would boost output by a further 500,000 barrels a day, or about 2 percent, if the price of oil went above $28 a barrel, averaged over 20 days. Even though the limit was breached last week, some members have since said the price must remain above $28 for 20 days. ``OPEC should study the impact of its March agreement before deciding the next step,'' said Zanganeh. Private output estimates show the group already is producing above its self-imposed quotas. A further increase would push OPEC production close to its highest level in 20 years. A Bloomberg survey earlier this month found that the 10 OPEC countries involved in the quota program -- all except Iraq -- produced 518,000 barrels daily more than their collective quota of 24.692 million barrels a day in May. Jun/13/2000 5:30 ET