OPEC SAYS FEBRUARY OUTPUT UNDER CEILING
OPEC output in February was "well below"
the 15.8 mln bpd ceiling it set in December and all countries
are strictly adhering to their quotas, the OPEC news agency
Opecna quoted an OPEC secretariat official as saying.
    The official was quoted as saying that lower output was the
result "of member countries' firm determination to defend the
organisation's official price of 18 dlrs per barrel, and to
refrain from selling any quantity below that price."
    The unnamed official was further quoted as saying that no
OPEC meeting was foreseen before the next biannual OPEC session
planned to start on June 25.
    The official gave no figure for February output. The
statement said only that "the reduction in total supplies,
namely actual exports of crude oil and products, plus local
deliveries in member countries, is even more pronounced as
those supplies fell very noticeably during that month."
    "No matter what the pressure on member countries by lifters
to align the official selling price to the ongoing market
price, member countries are, without exception, strictly
adhering to the official selling price in spite of the
financial hardship this may entail," the statement said.
    "The very recent improvement in the price structure is an
indicator of such determination by the organization to stick to
the official selling price," the statement said.
    Free spot market prices rose from around 14.50 dlrs a
barrel in early December last year to near OPEC's official
levels towards the end of the year, after the OPEC pact.
    There has been oil industry speculation that OPEC might
have to hold an extraordinrary meeting prior to its scheduled
June session to discuss reports of overproduction by some
states and strains on the differential matrix, which prices
each OPEC crude according to its quality and distance from main
markets.
    The official said in the statement that no such emergency
session was scheduled "because of member countries' firm
determination to defend the price (system)" agreed in December.
    Opec"s differential committee was to have met in Vienna
starting April 2 but this session has been postponed, with no
new date set, according to an official of the United Arab
Emirates, which chairs the seven-state body.
    Other members are Algeria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Libya,
Nigeria and Qatar.
 REUTER
