ECUADOR TO PRODUCE ABOVE OPEC QUOTA - MINISTER
Ecuador will produce crude oil in excess
of its 221,000-bpd OPEC quota during the second half of this
year, Energy Minister Fernando Santos Alvite told a news
conference.
    Ecuador plans to produce 280,000 bpd in August, rising to
320,000 bpd next January, the minister said.
    "We will be producing more than the quota to pay off the
crude and products we have been lent by Venezuela, Nigeria and
Kuwait and to compensate for the crude we have been unable to
produce during the past few months," he said.
    Earthquake damage to a pipeline sharply cut Ecuadorean
production from March to May this year.
    Santos said the move had been explained to fellow OPEC
members during last week's meeting in Vienna, when an increase
in Ecuador's quota to 221,000 bpd from 210,000 was approved.
    "They understood our position and we believe we remain
within the spirit of the (quota) agreement," he said.
    Immediately before the March quake Ecuadorean production
was 250,000-260,000 bpd, with 144,000 bpd exported.
    While its production was down, Venezuela, Nigeria and
Kuwait loaned Ecuador a total 12 mln barrels of crude and four
mln barrels of products, Santos said.
 Reuter
