Caracas, September 25, 2000 (Press Office of the Second OPEC Summit) -
The price of oil has had a tendency to decrease because of the OPEC decision to increase production by 800 thousand barrels per day beginning October 1, said OPEC President and Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Alí Rodríguez at Miraflores Palace.
The U.S. decision to release 30 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic reserves also is contributing to stablization of the oil market, the Minister added. He also announced that the Venezuelan oil basket decreased today by US $3.75 per barrel to close at US $27.85 per barrel.
He said that since April has been approximately 2 million barrels per day exceeding demand. Therefore, he said, "the fundamentals (of the market) do not show imbalances that explain the current prices."
Source: OPEC PRESS OFFICE.
