GULF ARAB OIL MEETING ENDS
Deputy oil ministers of the six-nation
Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) ended a meeting here after
discussing co-ordination and co-operation in the oil field, the
Bahrain-based Gulf News Agency (GNA) said.
    The deputy ministers, who declined to talk to reporters on
the outcome of the 90 minute formal session, later concluded a
round of informal talks.
    The GCC groups four OPEC members -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates --  and non-OPEC nations
Bahrain and Oman.
    Before the formal session had begun, chairman Yousef
Shirawi, Bahrain's Development and Industry Minister, told
reporters the gathering was a follow-up to talks held last
Sunday in Qatar at full ministerial level.
    GNA gave no details on the outcome of today's talks.
    It said only, "The deputy ministers discussed current
developments in the oil market, particularly those relating to
production and prices."
    The meeting in Qatar had reaffirmed the six Gulf Arab
countries' commitment to OPEC's pricing and production accord
forged in December last year.
    It also discussed ways of marketing crude oil on behalf of
those GCC states encountering resistance to official OPEC
prices.
    Oil industry sources have said Qatar has faced particular
difficulty in selling its full quota of production.
 Reuter
