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| Tuesday, 10 August 2004 |
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OPEC to invite non-members to help end price crisis JAKARTA, Monday (AFP) OPEC is to invite producers from outside the cartel to talks next month on how to stablise sky-rocketing oil prices, the organisation's President Purnomo Yusgiantoro said here Monday. The unusual move to throw open the September 14 OPEC meeting in Vienna to non-members comes just days after crude prices hit record highs, reaching 44.77 dollars a barrel in New York on Friday. "OPEC will discuss steps to stabilise world oil prices with non-OPEC countries and large oil producers, among them Russia and Angola," Purnomo told journalists here. "We will discuss world oil price conditions," he said. Supply uncertainties caused by the financial woes of Russian oil giant Yukos and terrorist attacks on Iraqi oil pipelines have sent prices soaring in recent weeks, prompting OPEC to consider a hike in production. But Purnomo, who last week branded oil prices "crazy", has said a decision whether to increase supplies by around 1.5 million barrels per day cannot be made before the Vienna talks. He said there were no plans to bring the meeting forward, despite concerns over OPEC's ability and willingness to control the market. Russian oil producer Yukos, which contributes a substantial proportion of OPEC's supply, has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy since early July amid a tax fraud investigation. It is feared that Yukos could be forced to shut down rail shipments that account for a quarter of its export trade if a freeze on its bank accounts remains in place. |
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