Forwarded from another list. Seems relevant to the discussion on OPEC Tightens Screw on Oil Supply Restrictions
------- Forwarded message follows ------- Saudi priorities 'driving oil price' By Carola Hoyos in Vienna Published: April 2 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: April 2 2004 5:00 Oil prices will be driven increasingly by the needs of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and the most influential member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, analysts said after yesterday's Opec production cut. Facing a domestic struggle against suspected al-Qaeda militants and with little economic growth outside the oil sector, Saudi Arabia is increasingly reliant on high oil revenues to maintain domestic stability. Last year Riyadh earned $85bn (¥69bn, £46bn) from oil, the highest in 21 years. This allowed it to register a budget surplus, only the second in two decades. "It's somewhat surprising that Saudi Arabia would be accepting of high oil prices - that's unusual," said Brad Bourland, chief economist at Saudi American Bank in Riyadh. "It is the need for ever- higher revenues and the belief that around the corner there will be a supply glut. The Saudis are pre-emptively keeping markets tight to accommodate jumps in supply from non-Opec sources." In total, Opec earned $55bn more in 2003 than 2004 as oil prices rose and output increased to make up for the shortfall in Iraq exports because of the war. Saudi Arabia has suffered somewhat because of the decline in the dollar, in which oil is traded. Goldman Sachs, the US-based investment bank, calculates that Opec countries will need oil prices between $35-$40 within the next five to 10 years, in large part because of their growing populations. That demographic pressure is especially strong in Saudi Arabia. Opec has become increasingly effective at keeping prices at levels it finds comfortable, most recently $22-$28 a barrel, or higher to account for the drop in the dollar. Though the successful co-operation between the cartel's members is not assured, what is clear is that 80 per cent of the world's oil reserves lie in the Middle East and 60 per cent of the world's oil is within the boundaries of Middle Eastern Opec members. Additional reporting by Roula Khalaf in http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer? pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1079420106634&p=101257 1727236 ------- End of forwarded message ------- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
