SAUDI ARABIA REITERATES COMMITMENT TO OPEC ACCORD

Kuwait's oil minister said in a newspaper 
interview that there were no plans for an emergency OPEC 
meeting after the recent weakness in world oil prices. 
    Sheikh Ali al-Khalifa al-Sabah was quoted by the local 
daily al-Qabas as saying that "none of the OPEC members has 
asked for such a meeting." 
    He also denied that Kuwait was pumping above its OPEC quota 
of 948,000 barrels of crude daily (bpd). 
    Crude oil prices fell sharply last week as international 
oil traders and analysts estimated the 13-nation OPEC was 
pumping up to one million bpd over its self-imposed limits. 
 Reuter

KUWAIT MINISTER SAYS NO EMERGENCY OPEC TALKS SET

The port of Philadelphia was closed 
when a Cypriot oil tanker, Seapride II, ran aground after 
hitting a 200-foot tower supporting power lines across the 
river, a Coast Guard spokesman said. 
    He said there was no oil spill but the ship is lodged on 
rocks opposite the Hope Creek nuclear power plant in New 
Jersey. 
    He said the port would be closed until today when they 
hoped to refloat the ship on the high tide. 
    After delivering oil to a refinery in Paulsboro, New 
Jersey, the ship apparently lost its steering and hit the power 
transmission line carrying power from the nuclear plant to the 
state of Delaware. 
 Reuter

PHILADELPHIA PORT CLOSED BY TANKER CRASH

A study group said the United States 
should increase its strategic petroleum reserve to one mln 
barrels as one way to deal with the present and future impact 
of low oil prices on the domestic oil industry. 
    U.S. policy now is to raise the strategic reserve to 750 
mln barrels, from its present 500 mln, to help protect the 
economy from an overseas embargo or a sharp price rise. 
    The Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, a private 
group, also called for new research for oil exploration and 
development techniques. 
    It predicted prices would remain at about 15-18 dlrs a 
barrel for several years and then rise to the mid 20s, with 
imports at about 30 pct of U.S. consumption. 
    It said instead that such moves as increasing oil reserves 
and more exploration and development research would help to 
guard against or mitigate the risks of increased imports. 
 Reuter