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Gold/Mining/Energy : Schlumberger - The biggest/baddest oil service company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bruce R. Schlake who wrote (88)	11/29/1998 12:11:00 PM
From: fred woodall	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 216

Days after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to take concrete steps to bolster crude prices, OPEC Secretary General Rilwanu Lukman said Sunday that $15 a barrel to $20 a barrel Brent would be a reasonable oil price ahead of the March meeting of oil ministers. Meanwhile, United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Obaid bin Saif Al-Nasseri said that his country will back any joint effort by OPEC members to boost oil prices. "All options are open," Al-Nasseri said. Both men made their comments at Gastech '98, a four-day gas-industry conference, which opened Sunday in Dubai. While OPEC members largely have been compliant in sticking with efforts to curb oil production, during a meeting in Vienna last week, they failed to extend the oil-reduction agreement. Members agreed in March to cut production by 2.6 million barrels a day. The Paris-based International Energy Agency put October compliance by the OPEC-10 countries (excluding sanctions-struck Iraq, which isn't subject to the agreement) at 93.3%. But that reduction pact expires in June, and OPEC members couldn't agree to extend it until December 1999. Overproduction by some countries, namely Venezuela and Iran, were key points of dissension at last week's meeting in Vienna. Members agreed to meet again in March to decide if further steps should be taken to boost prices. Crude oil futures are trading near 12-year lows on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at the International Petroleum Exchange in London Wednesday, Brent futures dropped to an all-time low of $10.95 a barrel. AL-Nasseri added that OPEC bought itself some time by putting off until March a decision on extending or adding to current production cuts. He said the extra time would provide OPEC countries with the opportunity to find a better solution. He also called for non-OPEC countries to cooperate with OPEC in efforts to bolster prices. OPEC supplies about 40% of the world's oil. Its members include Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.