SAUDI OUTPUT SAID AT YEAR LOW TO HELP OPEC

  Saudi Arabian oil output has fallen to
  its lowest level in more than a year, giving fresh evidence of
  the kingdom's determination to keep oil prices at 18 dlrs a
  barrel, as agreed by Opec last December, oil industry sources
  said.
      They said Saudi output in the first eight days of March
  averaged 2.6 mln barrels per day (bpd) including oil from the
  neutral zone shared with Kuwait, compared to a February average
  of 3.5 mln bpd.
      They said Saudi Arabia was also selling oil from its crude
  oil stocks in tankers around the world, which OPEC says must be
  counted towards a member's production quota. Saudi Arabia's
  quota is 4.133 mln bpd.
      The lower production levels indicated Saudi Arabia, the
  world"s largest oil exporter, was insisting on getting Opec
  official prices, even at the cost of lower production, the
  sources said.
      King Fahd reiterated yesterday, in an interview with
  Reuters and the television news agency Visnews, the Saudi
  commitment to OPEC's December pact to boost oil prices to an
  average 18 dlrs.
      "Saudi Arabia is completely sticking to OPEC decisions," he
  said.
      The sources said the kingdom's exports from Gulf ports
  averaged one mln bpd during the eight days ending last Sunday,
  down from a February average of 1.9 mln bpd.
      They said Saudi Arabia was allowing production to fluctuate
  with lifting nominations and was not trying to maintain
  artificially high levels by putting oil into storage.
      The kingdom's main buyers, the four U.S. Oil firms with
  past stakes in the national oil company Aramco -- Mobil, Exxon,
  Texaco and Chevron -- enjoy considerable flexibility in the
  timing and volume of their liftings but are bound to pay
  official prices, the sources said.
      Spot market prices have firmed in the past two weeks but
  still remain below OPEC levels and major buyers have delayed
  liftings in the hope they would improve, the sources said.
      They expected low early March output to pick up towards the
  end of the month as buyers sought to fulfill their contractual
  obligations.
  

