Word: opec
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...cutting actually started two weeks ago when Britain and Norway, which are not OPEC members, dropped their charge for North Sea oil by $3 per bbl., to $30.50. This precipitated the first public break in OPEC ranks. Nigeria, blessed with very high-quality crude oil and burdened by heavy debt, said it was slashing its price...
...announcement was stunning, not only for the historic implications of the crack in OPEC but also because the cut is even larger than it seems. A barrel of Nigeria's Bonny Light crude, once refined, yields a higher-priced product mix than does the Arabian Light oil on which the OPEC bench-mark price is based. The Saudis used to insist that the "differential" should be $3, but more recently have reportedly been willing to accept $1.50. Even at that, the official OPEC price would have to fall to $28.50 to make it competitive with $30 Nigerian...
...keep the price cutting from getting out of hand, OPEC members held a desperate round of meetings in Paris and Riyadh. For the first time, non-OPEC members were being welcomed into the discussions. The oil ministers sought out representatives from Britain, Norway and Mexico, a step that symbolized the success of the non-OPEC world's attempt to free itself from the organization's stranglehold. Last year, for the first time in at least 20 years, the rest of the non-Communist world produced more oil than the 13 OPEC nations...
...result of OPEC's meetings with nonmembers was that Mexico decided to postpone an announcement, scheduled for last Friday, of a drop in its oil prices. The implication was that Mexico would wait to see whether a broad agreement could be reached this week. Although the Saudis and their allies were mum, many experts believed the gulf producers had agreed in Riyadh to cut the official price to $30, too high to compete with Nigerian oil at the new price. But at week's end the British warned that they would make further reductions if OPEC sharply undercut...
There were signs the gulf members intend to present their new price, whatever it is, to the rest of OPEC on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. By far the largest producers in OPEC, they could send prices through the floor if they chose to pump flat out. The threat could bring Nigeria and other wayward nations into line. As Mani Said al-Oteiba, oil minister for the United Arab Emirates, declared after the two-day Riyadh meeting, "If the other OPEC nations do not accept this accord, the gulf states will have to cut the price even more...