Opec

VIENNA, Austria -- Despite unusually public pleas by the Clinton administration for relief from high oil prices, few signs of support for a big increase in oil production emerged as ministers from petroleum-exporting countries arrived here yesterday for crucial meetings. Two days before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to consider an increase in output, members of the 11-nation cartel remained divided and were girding for grueling negotiations throughout the weekend.

VIENNA, Austria -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries postponed next week's committee meeting yesterday in a bid to persuade Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to consider cutbacks in oil production to boost prices.Prices have fallen 25 percent to four-year lows since Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter, persuaded the group to boost output in late November. In recent years, OPEC's 11 members have been unable to control their production, which accounts for more than a third of world supply.

VIENNA, Austria - Facing a credibility problem and rampant overproduction by members at a time when oil prices are expected to slide, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries moved yesterday to increase official export quotas while demanding that members rein in their cheating. OPEC said that it would raise official export quotas to 23 million barrels a day from the current 21.7 million barrels, while asking members to cut production by 7 percent, or 1.7 million barrels a day. OPEC's credibility has eroded over the past few months because its members have been pumping about 3 million barrels more a day than they agreed to. After a meeting of oil ministers, OPEC said it would ask members to comply with the new quotas.

GASOLINE prices were too good to be true and have gone up. Expect another 8 to 15 cent-a-gallon increase at the pump before summer vacation but not the higher prices of two years ago.Oil prices sank because the Asian recession reduced demand, and producer countries that regulate supply were cheating to boost national revenues to meet government deficits. Regimes at war or subverting each other could not cooperate. Two attempts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to limit production failed last year.

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.

WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia and other OPEC oil producers are flooding world markets with crude oil, a shift that experts say should help offset any economic dislocation from a military strike against Iraq. The surge in production has helped wash away a $5-a-barrel "war premium" that pushed the price of crude above $30 in early October, industry experts say. The increase in output may have reduced the risk of spot shortages during the initial stages of a U.S.-led military offensive. If sustained, it also could boost the economies of the United States and others.

GENEVA -- Overproduction by OPEC has cost member nations $6 billion since March, but on the eve of their fall conference, oil ministers remain sharply at odds over how to reverse those losses.With the average OPEC barrel of oil selling for just over $15, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cannot afford to leave the meeting without signatures and firm promises from the group's 12 members, oil experts and senior OPEC officials agree.To try to cut oil production enough to spark a price rally while still satisfying demands by Kuwait, Iran and others for increases in output quotas is a delicate balancing act.How many barrels will be designated in OPEC's fourth-quarter production pact is uncertain.

VIENNA, Austria -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries sought to regain its authority over volatile oil markets yesterday, agreeing to increase production by 500,000 barrels a day. But prices still rose to a record. At the same time, representatives of leading OPEC nations said they feared that a slowing global economy might dampen future demand. The oil cartel signaled that it would be ready to act swiftly to protect its members' interests. The decision by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries came after an unusually long day of arguments about the size and the timing of the increase in production, intended to meet an expected surge in winter consumption and to push prices down.

VIENNA, Austria - OPEC's agreement to boost output quotas by 6.5 percent might provide little relief from a rally that sent oil prices to a two-year high, analysts said yesterday. OPEC members agreed Sunday to raise the group's daily production ceiling by 1.5 million barrels, or 6.5 percent, to 24.5 million barrels a day starting Feb. 1. Actual output might rise less because many members are pumping near their limit, and a six-week strike has crippled supplies from Venezuela, OPEC's third-largest producer.

VIENNA - OPEC ministers agreed yesterday to keep production quotas at an 11-year low to maintain oil prices at about $25 a barrel at a time of slowing world demand. Members said they want to increase output after their September meeting, choosing for now to wait for world economies to rebound. Concern about possible disruptions to oil supplies because of violence in the Middle East has contributed to a 26 percent jump in prices this year to $25.24 a barrel in London. "The current price is reasonable," said Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi.