OPEC REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO FIXED PRICES, CEILING
OPEC has reaffirmed its commitment to
fixed crude oil prices of around 18 dlrs a barrel and an
overall output ceiling of 15.8 mln barrels per day (bpd) to
defend prices, its president Rilwanu Lukman said.
    He told a news conference here "After due consultation with
my colleagues in OPEC, I hereby wish to emphasize that Nigeria
and all member countries of OPEC remain determined to uphold
the December agreement by adhering strictly to their various
quotas and official selling prices."
    Lukman added no extraordinary OPEC conference was planned.
    "We are in a position to re-confirm that, despite misleading
news in foreign media to the contrary, ... OPEC member
countries as a whole produced below their agreed quota in the
month of February," Lukman, who is Nigerian oil minister, said.
    Lukman put the overall OPEC output shortfall in February at
900,000 bpd and said this was as a result of their firm
determination to defend official selling prices of 18 dlrs
agreed upon last December in Geneva.
    The December agreement set an overall output ceiling for
OPEC of 15.8 mln bpd for first half 1987 and restored fixed
prices as from February 1 around a reference point of 18 dlrs.
    Oil prices rallied immediately after the Geneva accord but
fell again last month on reports that OPEC was producing more
than the agreed level.
    "The idea was to suggest that OPEC's agreement would not
hold and this caused some customers to hold back purchases of
OPEC oil and resort to destocking to meet their needs," Lukman
said.
    He said the 900,000 bpd shortfall last February was based
on the verified figure for 10 out of OPEC's 13 members, adding
that Nigeria alone had a shortfall in production of 100,000
bpd.
    Iraq disassociated itself from the December agreement,
while the production figures of Ecuador and the United Arab
Emirates needed to be verified, Lukman said.
    "If that is the price we have to pay to make the agreement
succeed, we are ready ... OPEC is not changing its price level
of 18 dlrs," the group's president said.
    He said the OPEC price differentials committee meeting
formerly postponed to April had been put off indefinitely.
    "Furthermore, no extraordinary meeting of the conference is
at the moment contemplated since most agreements reached in
December are being adhered to," he said.
    Asked if the committee did not need to meet soon to narrow
the gaps in the prices of the various OPEC crudes -- fixed in
relation to the 18 dlr benchmark -- Lukman replied "We consider
the defence of our prices much more crucial than differentials."
    Lukman said OPEC was aware that consumers had heavily drawn
on stocks of both crude oil and refined products to levels well
below this time last year and soon they would return to the
market in search of crude.
    "We don't see that there is going to be any difficulty in
maintaining the 18 dlr price throughout the rest of the year,"
Lukman said.
    The OPEC president praised non-OPEC oil producers, which he
said had contributed to the group's efforts to stabilise
prices, but he criticised Britain for maintaining its long-held
view not to do anything to help the market.
    "We are quite confident, however, that in the long-term with
two-thirds of the world's reserves in OPEC hands, the future is
ours. We will use that advantage responsibly," he said.
    Lukman described the disruption in Ecuador's output
following an earthquake as tragic, but refused to say if the
South American country would be allowed a higher output quota
when it recovered from the disaster.
 REUTER
