US, Norway agree tightening oil supplies harmful

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

WIRE:02/27/2000 13:09:00 ET US, Norway agree tightening oil supplies harmful OSLO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, reiterating that oil prices were too high, won agreement from major exporter Norway on Sunday that volatile oil prices and tightening supplies could threaten economic growth. Richardson and Norwegian Oil and Energy Minister Marit Arnstad issued a joint statement after talks in Oslo in which they "expressed concern that the tightening supply situation could feed inflation and slow economic growth."

"Our meeting has been positive, productive and friendly as usual," Richardson told a news conference, also calling it encouraging.

He reiterated that Washington believed that oil prices were too high but said he was not in Oslo to negotiate on prices. Richardson was in Oslo for the second time in a month after visiting Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Arnstad said that Norway would only decide at the end of March whether to scrap or extend a 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) curb on output from March 31 even though oil prices have soared to around nine-year highs. She said Norway's first quarter 2000 oil output would be around 3.2 million bpd, including the cuts.

"As the second largest exporter of oil, Norway will continue to play a role in ensuring market stability and sustaining world economic growth," the joint statement said. "In that regard, Norway will continue to analyse the current oil market situation, economic data and production level."

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20000227_709.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 27, 2000


Moderation questions? read the FAQ