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

To: Wally Mastroly who wrote (24)	7/2/2000 9:03:28 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10065

Sunday Times of London-Oil Prices Saudis in threat to 'open the taps' to reduce oil prices BY CARL MORTISHED, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EDITOR SAUDI ARABIA has given warning that it will open the taps and flood the market with oil if the crude price remains high. The world's largest producer is threatening to pump an extra 2.3 million barrels per day to take the speculative fever out of the oil situation. The price of a barrel of Brent crude dipped briefly in reaction to the Saudi Arabi threat, but sceptical traders quickly shrugged off the warning as an empty threat designed to manipulate prices downwards. Brent ended the day five cents higher at $30.85. The warning from the Saudi oil ministry suggests growing alarm within the country that recent Opec measures, including last week's 708,000 barrel per day quota increase, have failed to quench the flames in the oil market. A Saudi Arabia official said that an extra 2.3 million barrels per day could be brought onstream "in a short time". The Saudis have insisted they want the oil price to moderate to an average of $25 for the Opec basket of crudes. The country is under intense pressure from its ally, the United States, where a surge in petrol prices to an unprecedented $2 per gallon (£1.33) is causing fury among consumers and a probe by the Federal Trade Commission into price-fixing by oil companies. "The Saudis' short-term worry about prices is political but they also have long-term concerns," Julian Lee, of the Centre for Global Energy Studies, said. "High prices are restricting growth in demand for oil and will stimulate production from non-Opec countries." According to Mr Lee, even Saudi Arabia's $25 target is unsustainable as most non-Opec production is profitable at prices of $18 to $19. The Saudi warning coincides with the start of the 700,008-barrels-per-day rise in the Opec quota but the extra oil will take a month to reach US refineries. Saudi efforts to fight speculators with words may be insufficient. US refineries have been working at peak capacity and have been converting heating oil to make up the petrol shortage, but that could lead in turn to low stocks of heating oil.