SAUDI ARABIA WILL NOT AGREE "MAD" OIL PRICE RISE
Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Hisham Nazer
said Riyadh would not agree to a cut in oil prices and would
not accept a "mad" increase that would drive consumers away.
    He told al-Riyadh newspaper, "Saudi Arabia follows a
balanced petroleum policy. It does not approve of a decrease in
prices from current levels and it also does not accept a mad
increase that would drive consumers away and make them try and
find alternative sources (for energy)."
    OPEC agreed last December to cut production after world
prices hit new lows in 1986. They agreed on a pricing system
aimed to stabilise the market around 18 dlrs a barrel.
    OPEC is scheduled to meet in Vienna on June 25, where it
will review its current oil price and production policy.
    Saudi Arabia's King Fahd said last month that he wanted oil
prices to remain stable for the next two years.
    Saudi Arabia is the architect of the current pricing and
production pact, which is backed by Kuwait and the UAE. The
current pact set a production ceiling for first half 1987 of
15.8 mln bpd, and implemented fixed prices based on an 18 dlrs
a barrel average.
 REUTER
