Unified oil price soon?

Press, 22 October 1981, Page 19

Unified oil price soon?

PA London Prospects of an OPEC price deal next week and Middle East political tensions after the death of Egypt’s President Sadat gave a lift to oil shares today. Shares of the two Euro-pean-based multinationals, Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum (BP) each gained 12p in London, with BP at 298 p and Shell at 348 p. A unified OPEC price of SUS 34 a barrel, expected to emerge from next week's

Geneva meeting of oil ministers, will mean a $2 price rise by Saudi Arabia, ending the so-called “Aramco advantage.” This is the access to Saudi oil, priced below the average, by the four U.S. partners in the Arabian American Oil Company: they are Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, and Standard Oil of California. Their OPEC oil bills have been lower than those of companies like Shell and BP in recent years, although

they argue that in 1981, tar from having a competitive edge, they have suffered as a result of the Saudi policy of over-producing during a glut in order to force pricing moderation on OPEC “hawks.” The four . U.S. companies have had'to ship and unload the flood of Saudi oil, some finding it necessary to sell it at a discount of up to 50c a barrel on the spot market, or to hold it in .stock. ■ — an expensiive undertaking. .