Opec

University of Maryland business professor Rafael Corredoira's claim that higher domestic oil production won't affect prices is flat wrong ("More domestic production won't lower gas prices," April 20). The only way that a cartel, such as OPEC, can exist is if it controls a large enough proportion of production of the product, in this case, oil. If another large supplier enters the market, OPEC must reduce its output to maintain the world price, which means that the revenue to the OPEC members will decrease.

University of Maryland business professor Rafael Corredoira's claim that higher domestic oil production won't affect prices is flat wrong ("More domestic production won't lower gas prices," April 20). The only way that a cartel, such as OPEC, can exist is if it controls a large enough proportion of production of the product, in this case, oil. If another large supplier enters the market, OPEC must reduce its output to maintain the world price, which means that the revenue to the OPEC members will decrease.

WASHINGTON - It's a move that anyone outraged by high gasoline prices would applaud - a nonprofit labor group suing the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States (OPEC). That was in 1978, though - and the lawsuit failed. A U.S. appeals court threw it out three years later, noting that OPEC's member states enjoy immunity from prosecution under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Congress recently had a perfect opportunity to change that - and wasted it. In June, the Senate approved an amendment that would have let the federal government sue OPEC.

The argument for increasing oil production in the U.S. to decrease gas prices at the pump has sparked passionate debate, but it undervalues the influence of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In recent years, OPEC has shown an ability to manipulate the price of oil around the world, making it unlikely for an increase in U.S. oil production to reduce gas prices. However, this unfortunate fact has a silver lining: OPEC's need to sustain its market base and hold off the alternative energy industry is likely to keep oil prices from skyrocketing.

VIENNA, Austria -- Gathering just months after one of its members invaded another, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries managed last week to hold one of its shortest -- and least quarrelsome -- meetings in its 30-year history.Behind the show of cooperation, industry experts said, was a painful truth driven home anew by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August: OPEC no longer controls the world oil market as it did in its heyday.The group's diminished role can be seen in oil's wild price gyrations since the invasion in a market fueled by speculators' bets on the prospects for war and peace and often indifferent to OPEC's successful efforts at maintaining world supplies.

PARIS -- Yielding to increasing pressure from other OPEC members, Saudi Arabia said yesterday that it would cut oil production by about 100,000 barrels a day.The reduction by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude, amounts to a modest 1.2 percent of its daily output, but some analysts said that in coming months, in cooperation with other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the Saudis could make further cuts.In the last two weeks, Venezuela, Nigeria, Algeria and Libya have each announced reductions ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 barrels a day. Iran is widely expected to cut its output of more than 3 million barrels a day by at least 100,000 barrels, and Indonesia will also announce cuts of about 50,000 barrels a day, said OPEC officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

NEW YORK -- Crude oil rose for a fourth straight day yesterday, trading above $60 a barrel on speculation that OPEC members will agree at a meeting this week to cut production because of a 20 percent drop in prices over the past three months. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet Thursday to discuss reducing output by 1 million barrels a day, oil ministers including Qatar's Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said. Oil prices fell last week to a 2006 low as U.S. supplies rose to 14 percent above the five-year average.

DALLAS -- Oil prices bounded yesterday to their highest levels in a year as OPEC vowed not to boost crude production this year and a report showed that stockpiles had fallen in the United States.Crude oil for July delivery rose 91 cents, to $19.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, continuing an advance from the $14 range in March.Analysts also pointed to fears of a Korean confrontation with the West over nuclear weapons, and fresh signs that no oil would soon be flowing from Iraq.

PARIS -- The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said yesterday that he would press for a significant cut in oil production to prop up sagging prices, which have dropped by 20 percent since November.Jibril Aminu, also the oil minister of Nigeria, said he would ask OPEC's 12 members to reduce production by about 6 percent when they meet on Wednesday in Geneva.At the moment, the average price of OPEC crude oil is about $16 a barrel, and OPEC output has increased to an 11-year high of 24.2 million barrels a day.Americans and other consumers have been enjoying the benefits of OPEC's high production.

GENEVA -- Ecuador's decision to leave OPEC reflects the spirit of the post-Cold War era in which monopolistic and socialist policies have unraveled to make room for freer trade and Western free enterprise.Ecuador will be the first country in the 13-member oil cartel to leave since the group's founding 32 years ago. The decision, announced Thursday night, deals another blow to an organization that has seen its market power wane steadily for nearly a decade and is still reeling from depressed oil prices, rising energy taxes and a successful anti-pollution campaign to restrain the use of oil.What's more, most members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia, have been producing as much oil as they wish, rendering the cartel useless as a price-setting group.

At a time when Americans are engaged in a heated debate about cutting domestic social services and entitlement programs, we are forced to fund more and more social programs — for other nations. How so? In February, after seeing fellow Sunni Muslim regimes destabilizing throughout the Middle East, Saudi King Abdullah rushed back from New York, where he was recovering from a back injury, to the kingdom to stave off any potential spillover. After all, if Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had been ousted, anyone could be. In an attempt to pacify its subjects, the House of Saud announced a "stimulus package" that included an increase in subsidies, a 15 percent salary raise to all government employees, and housing benefits to military and religious groups in exchange for support of his ban on protests.

Two policy announcements last week revealed the Obama administration's core strategy in addressing the nation's growing dependence on oil. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced that his administration would allow new oil exploration along the Atlantic Coast and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The following day, the administration announced new mandatory fuel efficiency standards of 35.5 mpg average within six years, up nearly 10 mpg from now. By simultaneously promoting supply-side solutions (drill baby, drill)

With the global economy in the throes of a recession, oil producers are facing their toughest business prospects in 25 years. Oil demand is expected to decline this year and next, the first drop since the energy shocks of the early 1980s. As economic growth slows sharply, oil prices have collapsed from their summer peaks in record time. The stunning speed of the downturn has made for a nightmare for producers, who face shrinking revenue next year. Oil has lost $100 a barrel, or 70 percent of its value, since July.

CHICAGO - Workers lose their jobs, but they won't leave Workers who got three days' notice that their factory was shutting its doors have occupied the building and say they won't go home without assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay. About 250 union workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant in shifts yesterday while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind. Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days' notice required by law before shutting down.

The good news: Gas prices are down just about everywhere. AAA, the auto club, says the national average is now less than $3 a gallon. The bad news: the lower prices likely won't last, because the OPEC countries are planning to cut back on production. For a moment, I was hoping that airlines would reduce fuel surcharges for trips to Europe and maybe even slash some add-on fees that were supposed to pay for higher fuel costs. The airlines are surely benefiting from the recent lower fuel costs; why shouldn't passengers?

Stand back. Give me some air. Everybody, please, back off. Someone call a doctor. I just read the outside of the bag that came back from the corner pharmacy: $180.38 for 30 capsules of medication that I need to improve the quality of my life and perhaps extend it. The co-pay was $76.60, but still ... Someone call the cops! If Obama gets elected, can we just arrest the people who run the drug companies that charge this kind of price? I say take the CEO and the board of directors and hold them at Gitmo.

WASHINGTON - In what's becoming a ritual in the nation's capital, top executives of major oil companies received a heaping of verbal abuse from lawmakers of both parties yesterday and defensively blamed Congress for many of today's energy woes. While the public relations battle went on in the Senate Judiciary Committee, crude oil prices shot up more than $4 to $133.17 - another record high - on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Senate hearing may have served as a cathartic platform to grumble on behalf of constituents, but Americans can rest assured that they'll still pay more for gasoline in the months ahead.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- President Bush urged the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries yesterday to take into account the toll that high oil prices are having on the American economy, gingerly touching on an issue that has begun to color the last year of his presidency and dominate the presidential election campaign. Speaking to a group of Saudi entrepreneurs and later in an interview with reporters, Bush expressed his concern about the economy in some of his starkest language yet, saying that rising oil and gasoline prices are causing hardship for American families.