By Carola Hoyos and Stephen Fidler in New York Published: September 7 2000 19:09GMT | Last Updated: September 8 2000 07:12GMT Mohammed Khatami, Iran's president, said on Thursday Iran would support a rise in oil production by Opec, the oil cartel, when its members meet in Vienna this weekend. But a production increase of 700,000 b/d rumoured to be backed by Saudi Arabia, may be "on the high side for Iran", according to a close adviser to the president. "In principle we are not against an output rise in proportion to the rise in global demand in oil," Mr Khatami said, adding that statistics forecast oil demand to increase in the next four months. Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia this week told President Bill Clinton that he expected Opec to agree to a rise in output. The increase in world oil prices - October Brent blend closed on Wednesday at another 10-year-high of 34.28 a barrel - dipped to $33.89 on news of the apparent Saudi proposal. Although the cartel seems to be moving to a consensus over the need for an output increase, the size of the increase will be hotly debated in the Sunday meeting. Venezuela, one of the US's biggest suppliers of crude oil, and a country whose economy is highly dependent on the price of oil, does not expect any decision by Opec this weekend to stabilise the price. Hector Ciavaldini, president of PDVSA, Venezuela's state oil company, said in an interview on Thursday that he expected Opec to agree a token increase but that the measure would be unlikely reduce prices below $30 per barrel. Oil inventories will not increase before November and December, when demand will increase due to rising heating oil consumption, he said. He admitted that the US has put extreme pressure on Venezuela to increase output, but said that Opec was not responsible for the upward trend. Instead, he echoed comments also made by Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, and Mr Khatami, that oil consuming countries must reconsider their taxes and the environmental standards they dictate for their gasoline. Mr Clinton met Crown Prince Abdullah this week to push for Opec to increase oil output. "I told him that I was very concerned that the price of oil was too high, not just for America, but for the world, that if it's a cause of recession in any part of the world, that would hurt the oil producing countries. He agreed with that," Mr Clinton said after the meeting. Earlier, the Saudi crown prince stressed that his country was doing all it can to stabilise prices. "Saudi Arabia will continue to make every effort to ensure equilibrium in the oil markets and to stabilise prices," he said. _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
