Kuwait says OPEC weighs cut between 700,000-1 million b/d

Kuwait says OPEC weighs cut between 700,000-1 million b/d

Kuwait City (Platts)--9Oct2006

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ali al-Jarrah said Monday that consultations
were under way among OPEC producers on a proposal to cut production by 700,000
b/d to 1 million b/d, but there were still differences among members on how to
divide the cut, the official Kuwait news agency reported.

It was the first time that a figure lower than 1 million b/d has been
mentioned.

OPEC President Edmund Daukoru wrote to members of the producers' club at
the weekend asking them to back a 1 million b/d crude output cut from their
notional 28 million b/d ceiling, to be distributed on a pro rata basis.

KUNA quoted Jarrah as saying that Kuwait supported a production cut as
part of efforts to stabilize the market and balance supply and demand.

Jarrah said that the consultations were being conducted by OPEC ministers
and governors on the proposed cut, but that there were "differences over the
share" of the cut to be allocated to individual states. He said he hoped an
agreement on a reduction would be reached soon.

There was also no consensus on whether this needed to be done by
holding an emergency meeting. OPEC is due to meet in Nigeria on December 14,
but there has been a suggestion from Algeria that an emergency meeting be
convened in Vienna on October 18-19 to rubber-stamp a deal.

"Some countries see the need for a meeting while others think that we can
reach a consensus through consultations without meeting," Jarrah was quoted as
telling reporters. "We are cooperating with everyone either with a view to
holding a meeting or just coordinating" positions, he said.

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