04/06/2004

Opec supply boost drops oil price

Yesterday's move by Opec to increase oil supply quotas has helped reduce the upward pressure on oil prices.

The mainly Middle Eastern Opec cartel agreed to raise quotas by 2 million barrels a day in July and by a further 500,000 barrels a day in August.

The announcement of increased supply in July led to a 53 cent drop in a barrel of crude to $38.75, increasing on a yesterday's drop of 68 cents.

Prices of the vital world commodity hit a new record high of $42.45 on Tuesday following a terrorist attack on the Saudi Arabian oil town of Khobar at the weekend that left 22 people dead.

The continuing unrest in Iraq has also served to fuel concerns that oil price increases due to the global "fear-factor" may amount to $10 per barrel at current prices.

Recent high demand in the US and China has placed upward pressure on the price of oil. But many western economies are seeking a drop in the price of oil as high prices will eventually feed through into severe inflationary pressures within many economies heavily dependent on foreign oil.

The 11-strong Opec cartel countries produce around one third of the world's oil. The biggest supplier is Saudi Arabia, which produces around nine million barrels each day.

(SP)

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