Monday, 25 September, 2000, 12:01 GMT 13:01 UK World oil prices have started to tumble, following Friday's announcement by the United States government that it would release supplies from its emergency reserves. In London, Brent crude for November delivery dropped to $29.30 a barrel before recovering to $30.32 by 1100 GMT, down 93 cents on the day. Last week, prices had peaked at $34.98 a barrel. The latest price falls came as the European Commission president Romano Prodi was due to meet senior executives from Europe's largest oil companies and a top Saudi official reiterated a call for governments to cut taxes on oil products. A week ago, oil prices had hit a 10-year high amid mounting tension in the Middle East - prompting the US administration to announce it would dip into its vast reserves for the first time since the 1991 Gulf war. EU under pressure Analysts said the European Union was now likely to come under pressure to release some of its own reserves, to maintain the momentum of the price falls. An EU spokesman said the commission did not intend "for the moment" to use the reserves but confirmed that discussions on the issue were continuing among EU member states. At 1400 GMT, Mr Prodi was in Brussels due to meet executives from TotalFinaElf, Royal Dutch/Shell, BP Amoco, ENI, Norsk Hydro, Repsol and Statoil to discuss market developments. Speaking earlier in Prague at the IMF/World Bank annual meeting, the head of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama - central bank) Hamad al-Sayyari called on Western countries to cut taxes on refined products. He said that Saudi Arabia "has continued to spearhead the effort to stabilise oil prices" although the price of oil "today in real terms is still less than half its level in 1980, despite its recent rebound. "It is imperative now that the major oil consuming countries, especially those with excessive taxes on petroleum products, play their part in ensuring stable market conditions. They can do so by reducing the tax burden on consumers." More expected US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced on Friday that 30m barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would be released during October. Mr Richardson denied that the move was designed to ease oil prices - but rather to ensure that American consumers had enough heating oil to see them through the winter. President Bill Clinton has not ruled a further release of reserves ahead of November's presidential elections. He says he will assess the situation in 30 days. On Monday, Spain's El Pais newspaper suggested the Spanish government will put pressure on France, which currently holds the EU presidency, to tap into the union's oil reserves. The falling price of oil price has hit fuel company share prices on the FTSE 100. BP Amoco fell 17 pence to 592, while Shell fell 10p to 557. _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
