SAUDI OUTPUT SAID AT YEAR LOW TO HELP OPEC
Saudi Arabian oil output has fallen to
its lowest level in more than a year, giving fresh evidence of
the kingdom's determination to keep oil prices at 18 dlrs a
barrel, as agreed by Opec last December, oil industry sources
said.
    They said Saudi output in the first eight days of March
averaged 2.6 mln barrels per day (bpd) including oil from the
neutral zone shared with Kuwait, compared to a February average
of 3.5 mln bpd.
    They said Saudi Arabia was also selling oil from its crude
oil stocks in tankers around the world, which OPEC says must be
counted towards a member's production quota. Saudi Arabia's
quota is 4.133 mln bpd.
    The lower production levels indicated Saudi Arabia, the
world"s largest oil exporter, was insisting on getting Opec
official prices, even at the cost of lower production, the
sources said.
    King Fahd reiterated yesterday, in an interview with
Reuters and the television news agency Visnews, the Saudi
commitment to OPEC's December pact to boost oil prices to an
average 18 dlrs.
    "Saudi Arabia is completely sticking to OPEC decisions," he
said.
    The sources said the kingdom's exports from Gulf ports
averaged one mln bpd during the eight days ending last Sunday,
down from a February average of 1.9 mln bpd.
    They said Saudi Arabia was allowing production to fluctuate
with lifting nominations and was not trying to maintain
artificially high levels by putting oil into storage.
    The kingdom's main buyers, the four U.S. Oil firms with
past stakes in the national oil company Aramco -- Mobil, Exxon,
Texaco and Chevron -- enjoy considerable flexibility in the
timing and volume of their liftings but are bound to pay
official prices, the sources said.
    Spot market prices have firmed in the past two weeks but
still remain below OPEC levels and major buyers have delayed
liftings in the hope they would improve, the sources said.
    They expected low early March output to pick up towards the
end of the month as buyers sought to fulfill their contractual
obligations.
 REUTER
