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To: BigBull who wrote (36534)	2/2/1999 4:34:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Respond to of 95453

Venezuela confident of OPEC agreement in March CARACAS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Venezuela's new Energy and Mines Minister Ali Rodriguez said Tuesday he was confident OPEC would reach an output agreement in March, but declined to say it would involve more production cuts. ''In March we are going to reach an agreement,'' he told reporters after a meeting with Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al- Naimi in Caracas for President-elect Hugo Chavez's inauguration. OPEC oil ministers are due to meet on March 23 for a scheduled meeting to monitor oil markets and discuss production policy. Asked if that agreement would involve production cuts he said: ''That is always under study but there will surely be other initiatives which we will announce at the right time.'' He reiterated that Venezuela would comply fully with its current OPEC agreement to cut production of 525,000 barrels per day (bpd). Ahead of the March 23 OPEC meeting, Rodriguez said he would organize bilateral meetings with other OPEC members and producers outside of the cartel to study the market and develop an agreement that would be ready to sign at the ministerial event. Having previously said that there were still 1.5 million bpd oversupply in the world oil markets he told reporters: ''It has started to fall, the trend this year is for a better price.'' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: BigBull who wrote (36534)	2/2/1999 4:36:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Respond to of 95453

Saudi Oil minister says no excess oil supply (adds Naimi comments on Venezuela's output in paragraphs 9 and 10) CARACAS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Tuesday that there was no excess supply in world oil markets, but only excess inventories. Speaking to reporters outside Venezuela's Congress, he added that non-OPEC producers were playing their part to cut world oil supplies and that anything could happen at the scheduled March 23 meeting of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries. When asked whether he agreed with Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Ali Rodriguez's appraisal that there was 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of excess oil supply, al-Naimi said: ''There is confusion as to what is excess. There is excess inventory levels, but not excess supply.'' Asked whether he thought countries outside of OPEC should do more to reduce oil supplies he said: ''I think those in non-OPEC that count are doing their part.'' He added that he expected the March OPEC meeting to be ''successful''. ''In a meeting like the one in March, anything actually can happen, it just depends on the attitude of all. We don't try to predict because you have 11 sovereign countries and really we wish to avoid second-guessing what will happen.'' Al-Naimi was in Venezuela for the inauguration of President Hugo Chavez and Tuesday morning met with his Venezuelan counterpart Rodriguez. Al-Naimi said he was confident that Rodriguez would honor his agreement to cut Venezuelan output, which at the moment is about 150,000 barrels per day above the agreed 2.845 million bpd level. ''If his excellency Rodriguez has said he is going to honor the cuts, I am confident he will,'' al-Naimi said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------