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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marc chatman who wrote (38568)	3/1/1999 10:58:00 AM
From: Platter	Respond to of 95453

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Venezuela has failed to cut its crude oil production by 525,000 barrels per day (bpd) to meet its output level set last year by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, new Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez said on Sunday. But he added that Venezuela planned to be in compliance by the OPEC ministers meeting on March 23 in Vienna. "There are just a few barrels left to reach the figure of 525,000 barrels," Rodriguez told reporters after a speech at the Energy Council in Washington. Rodriguez declined to say if Venezuela still had to cut more or less than 100,000 bpd to reach its OPEC production target of 2.845 million bpd. Earlier this month, he said Venezuela would be in compliance by the end of February. "By the OPEC conference, this reduction (target) will be completely accomplished," he said through an interpreter. Rodriguez said he did not know if new crude oil production cuts among OPEC members would be reached at the March meeting. "You can't predict on the future OPEC meeting," he said. Rodriguez, who became energy minister in early February, is on a three-day visit to the United States to meet with U.S. government officials and oil producers. Rodriguez also said Venezuela may be interested in acquiring U.S. refineries that American oil companies seeking to merge could be forced to sell by antitrust regulators. "This is going to depend on market studies, basically, and what's available in the market," he said. Rodriguez said the board of Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), would discuss the issue at its next meeting at the end of March. He said in his speech that Venezuela wanted to increase the use of its refined petroleum products. The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the proposed $76.6 billion merger of Mobil Corp. and Exxon Corp. Anti-trust experts have speculated that regulators will likely require both companies to sell some gasoline stations and perhaps refineries before approving the merger deal. Separately, Rodriguez denied market rumors that his country was dumping crude oil in the U.S. market in order to curtail American oil production and raise crude prices. "This is absurd and untrue," he said. "It would take a person with a very closed mind not to realize that this is not in our interest, and there's nobody with that point of view right now in our government, at least those that handle petroleum policy right now." Venezuela lost its spot last year to Saudi Arabia as the top supplier of crude oil to the U.S. market, although Venezuela still exports the most petroleum products, which include gasoline and jet fuel, to the United States. The latest data from the U.S. Energy Department show that Saudi Arabia exported 1.39 million bpd of crude oil to the United States last year, while Venezuela shipped 1.37 million bpd. Due to the drop in crude prices to 12-year lows, U.S. oil production last year in the lower 48 states was the lowest in more than 50 years. Thousands of independent oil producers have shut their wells as oil has become cheaper to import than to drill domestically.

To: marc chatman who wrote (38568)	3/1/1999 10:59:00 AM
From: Platter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Venezuela's new energy minister on Sunday denied market rumors that his country was dumping crude oil in the U.S. market in order to curtail American oil production and raise crude prices. "This is absurd and untrue," Ali Rodriguez said in a speech to the Energy Council in Washington. Rodriguez, who assumed his post in early February, is in the United States for a three-day visit with government officials and oil producers. "It would take a person with a very closed mind not to realize that this is not in our interest, and there's nobody with that point of view right now in our government, at least those that handle petroleum policy right now," he said through an interpreter. Due to the drop in prices, U.S. oil production last year in the lower 48 states was the lowest in more than 50 years. Thousands of independent oil producers have shut their wells as oil has become cheaper to import than to drill domestically. The United States now imports about half the crude oil it needs. Venezuela lost its spot last year to Saudi Arabia as the top supplier of crude oil to the U.S. market, although Venezuela still exports the most petroleum products, including gasoline and jet fuel, to the United States. The latest data from the U.S. Energy Department show that Saudi Arabia exported 1.39 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to the United States last year, while Venezuela shipped 1.36 million bpd. Rodriguez said the current drop in oil prices, which are at 12-year lows, was caused by overproduction of oil worldwide. He said the effect on the Venezuelan budget and economy had been devastating as the government had to fund programs this year with oil earnings priced at $9 a barrel, down from $11 last year. Oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet in late March to try to stop the decline in crude oil prices, possibly by undertaking a new round of oil production cuts.