Ali Rodriguez News

Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Ali Rodriguez said that OPEC had agreed to defend a price band of $22 to $28 per barrel for its basket of crudes in a bid to stabilize prices. Rodriguez reportedly said the oil cartel would automatically raise or cut production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) if prices move outside of the band for more than 20 days. Nine members of OPEC agreed this week in Vienna to increase output by 1.45 million bpd from April 1, to curb soaring prices.

OPEC President Ali Rodriguez said that the oil cartel could alter its production levels before its members meet again in June if the 20-day average price of its crude oil basket moves outside the target $22-$28 range. Rodriguez, also Venezuela's Energy and Mines Minister, told a news conference with foreign correspondents that it was too early to assess OPEC's March 27 decision to increase production by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) and adopt the price band mechanism, but he was not worried by the current price of oil. OPEC's oil basket price has fallen below the bottom of the cartel's target range in recent days, although the 20-day average price stood at $24.36 per barrel last Tuesday, according to figures compiled by Reuters.

OPEC President and Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez dismissed another increase in crude oil output in July, quelling speculation that a recent price spike could pressure exporters to crank out more oil. Mexico's Energy Minister Luis Tellez, meanwhile, said the Wednesday summit of the oil trio -- the three engineers of a March 1999 producers' pact to restrict output and lift sagging prices -- would not produce any firm action. South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction has won a $510 million order to build a container terminal in Hong Kong. Hyundai said it had been awarded the deal by a group of Hong Kong companies, including Modern Terminals Ltd. Work is to begin on May 12 for completion by October 2004.

OPEC President and Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez dismissed another increase in crude oil output in July, quelling speculation that a recent price spike could pressure exporters to crank out more oil. Asked ahead of a Wednesday meeting with his fellow oil ministers from Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Mexico if production would be raised in July, Rodriguez replied "no." Mexico's Energy Minister Luis Tellez, meanwhile, said the Wednesday summit of the oil trio -- the three engineers of a March 1999 producers' pact to restrict output and lift sagging prices -- would not produce any firm action.

OPEC officials said all OPEC ministers are in favor of leaving oil production levels unchanged at an extraordinary meeting of the cartel scheduled for next month. Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Ali Rodriguez, currently OPEC president, said oil prices were behaving as he expected since the cartel imposed a target price band in March. Rodriguez said he did not expect any change in the band's $22 to $28 per barrel range for the OPEC export price basket this year.

Saudi Arabia is poised to unilaterally boost its oil output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of August, industry sources said. The kingdom, the world's biggest oil producer, has already turned up its taps by 250,000 bpd and aims to lift output by the same amount starting from August 1, the sources added. The extra Saudi barrels will head for markets in the U.S. and the Far East, they said. OPEC President and Venezuelan Oil Minister Ali Rodriguez said on Tuesday OPEC would not raise production this month because prices for its basket of crudes had fallen below the $28 a barrel threshold for a supply increase.

The president of Venezuelan state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) insisted he did not see any need for OPEC member countries to raise output to cool sizzling oil prices. With prices close to 10-year highs, pressure is growing on the oil cartel from consumer nations to agree to pump more oil at its next ministerial meeting in Vienna on Sept. 10. But PDVSA chief Hector Ciavaldini, reiterating a position expressed by other Venezuelan oil officials such as OPEC President Ali Rodriguez, said supply and demand of crude oil on world markets was well balanced.

U.S. By early afternoon, crude oil for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $28.30 a barrel, a 35-cent rise, taking total gains in the last six trading sessions to $2.50 a barrel, or ten percent. A statement by OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez on Sunday spurred the day's advance. Rodriguez, the former energy minister of Venezuela said on Sunday that the 11-member producers' cartel had a consensus to cut crude oil supplies but had not decided by how much. "For the time being there is a consensus to cut but how much we don't know," Rodriguez said. Rodriguez's remarks came after the former Venezuelan energy minister met with departing U.S. Energy Secretary Richardson in Vienna.

OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez said the cartel could cut up to an additional one million barrels a day from its production in March, after OPEC ministers agreed Wednesday to a 1.5 million barrel-a-day reduction. "On March 16, we have a new meeting, and if it is necessary we will make a decision to cut up to a further 1 million barrels," Rodriguez, a former Venezuelan oil minister, said. - (Reuters)

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has postponed a top-level seminar on oil markets, originally scheduled for March, until later in the year. The seminar, "OPEC and the global energy balance: towards a sustainable energy future," was to be held in Vienna the two days before the March 16 meeting of oil ministers in which they are to discuss output policy for the next few months. "It will be postponed because a various ministers are not going to be able to attend," OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez told Reuters. Another OPEC official said the seminar was tentatively rescheduled for September. - (Reuters)

Energy shares drew little comfort Feb. 4 from rising oil prices lifted first by red hot heating oil, then gasoline soaring to nine-year highs. U.S. light crude for March delivery settled 79 cents higher at $28.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, about $1 away from post Gulf War highs reached in late January. Prompt heat oil barges delivered to the New York Harbor soared to a $1.00 premium to the futures, which closed up 0.88 cent at 78.78 cents gallon. This put the cash wholesale price for a gallon of the fuel over $1.73, their highest ever level. Gasoline futures shot up to a fresh nine-year high of 80.15 cents a gallon amid fears that current tight supplies may even get tighter as the summer driving season looms.

Oil prices in 1999 posted a 35 percent increase on average over 1998 in a triumph of output restraint by exporter group OPEC and key ally Mexico. International benchmark Brent blend for the year was averaging $18.00 a barrel near the close of business on the last trading day of the year. Brent averaged just $13.34 a barrel in 1998, the lowest in 22 years, when prices slumped amid global surplus caused by excess output and shrinking demand in collapsing Asian economies. Average prices for Brent were $19.34 in 1997 and $20.28 in 1996. "OPEC has succeeded beyond its own expectations in increasing prices and in reducing global crude inventories," said a report from Washington-based Petroleum Finance Company.