ARABS-OPEC - April 10 - Cartel Calms Markets Over Stoppages.

At a news conference at Vienna headquarters, OPEC Sec-Gen. Ali Rodriguez says the cartel has received assurances from Iran and Libya that they will not join Iraq's month-long export ban, which has removed about 2m b/d of oil from the market (see Iraq). He adds that labour disruption in Venezuela, where he was formerly oil minister, were all but over and that the country's production was "normal again". (The comments appear at odds with reports from inside Venezuela. Officials at Petroleos de Venezuela, PDVSA, said exports of oil and products ceased. Meanwhile, industry sources said production at PDVSA reduced significantly, with output having dropped to just over 1m b/d from about 2.5m b/d normally). Rodriguez reiterates OPEC's position that it will not increase oil output to cover lost Iraqi and Venezuelan exports ahead of its next scheduled meeting on June 26. To do so would risk flooding the market as the Middle East crisis subsided. However, an OPEC official admitted Venezuela was becoming a concern, adding: "If the drama in Venezuela continues we could have a problem and we might have to put more oil on the market". (Large non-OPEC producer Norway, which made production cuts in solidarity with OPEC earlier this year, said it would consider lifting output if oil prices remained high. Russia, the world's second largest producer, is expected to review its formal production targets in May. US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill expressed optimism that the rise in oil prices would be limited and said there was "an assumption that things are going to be okay". Speaking at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, O'Neill said it appeared Saudi Arabia and other oil producers were "doing whatever production it takes" to stay within a price band. Earlier, the International Energy Agency warned that "high prices, should they be sustained over an extended period, could slow the global economic recovery". Oil prices remained stable despite the developments in Venezuela, with benchmark May Brent crude futures up 11 cents at $26.19/b in London).