Saudi Arabia denies oil cheating

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 10

Saudi Arabia denies oil cheating

NZPA-Reuter Manama, Bahrain Saudi Arabia said yesterday that its crude oil output during the first week of September was below its O.P.E.C. quota of 4.353 million barrels a day.

“The Kingdom’s crude oil output in the first week of September was

less than 4.353 million bpd,” the official Saudi Press Agency quoted a source at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources as saying. The source was commenting on a Reuter report this week that quoted Gulf oil traders as saying output had totalled 5.1 million barrels daily during the first five days of

September. The traders said the figure had been based on monitoring of tanker movements from main Saudi ports, and that output for the whole month was expected to be within the O.P.E.C. quota. The 13-member Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed at Geneva last

month to curb production to 16.8 million barrels daily during September and October in an effort to push up prices. The Saudi source said that under the O.P.E.C. accord each member was required to submit production figures .to a committee of experts. These had showed that the King-

dom’s output during the first week of September! had not reached 4.353! million barrels daily. The source denied another news agency report that the Kingdom had produced 7.61 million barrels a day during the last week of August, before the 0.P.E.C.-agreed cuts took effect.