Egypt stresses necessity of oil stability coordination worldwide
Egypt-Regional, Economics, 4/2/2002

Winding up their ll9th conference recently in Vienna, petroleum ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to keep the current production ceiling intact in accordance with the historic decision adopted by the Cairo Conference in December which stipulated reducing the production by 1.5 million bpd till the end of July where the total production hit 21.7 million bpd.

The non-OPEC producing countries decided to reduce their production by 150,000 bpd during the second quarter of the year, with the exception of Russia which has not declared its stance in this respect.

Head of Egypt's delegation to the OPEC meetings Ambassador Sameh Shokry underlined Egypt's keenness to augment its cooperation and continue its coordination with the Organization so as to guarantee the stability of the market in the best interest of producers and consumers.

Egypt's taking part falls within the context of enhancing its role as an observer since its participation in the 117th ministerial conference, held in September, he said.

He praised OPEC's abidance to clear and balanced policies over the past period.

The OPEC gathering had confirmed, in its meeting in Cairo in December, its decision to implement the previously announced reduction of its overall production level by an additional 1.5 million bpd for six months, effective as of the first of January 2002.

The cut, the fourth of its kind in 2001, was approved by the OPEC, after winning pledges from five non-OPEC countries namely Russia, Norway, Mexico, Angola and Oman, to shave 462,500 bpd.

In normal times, "we aim to reach the price of $ 22-28 per barrel, but particularly after September 11 we have to take into account the global economic downturn and the supply-demand situation," said OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez during the December meeting.

It is worth noting that OPEC controls two thirds of the world's oil exports.

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