Non-OPEC members to attend Venezuelan conference

Non-OPEC members to attend Venezuelan conference

CARACAS (AFP): The OPEC summit to be held here next month will
be observed by oil ministers from non-cartel members Russia,
Oman, Mexico, Norway and Angola, deputy foreign minister Jorge
Valero said Thursday.

Valero, who head the panel organizing the summit, said these
oil-producing countries were invited because they already
coordinate policies with OPEC on production levels and pricing.

The summit dates were changed to September 27-28 instead of
September 26-28, Valero said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez invited OPEC member leaders
to the first summit of the cartel since the one in Algiers in
1975; all other meetings have been attended by energy ministers.

Valero ruled out the possibility of admitting new members to
the 11-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at
the Caracas summit, noting that any new members must be accepted
by consensus.

But he indicated that Venezuela supports the expansion of the
cartel and said new members could be energy-producing countries
of the former Soviet Union.

Valero said that Venezuela was not being proposed for the
secretariat of OPEC, and that the candidacies of Saudi Arabia,
Iran and Iraq would stand.

Chavez said last week that the leaders of Algeria, Qatar,
Nigeria, Iran, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates had
accepted his invitation, while those of Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait declined but would send "top level" delegations.

The cartel agreed at its March meeting on a price band
mechanism that provides for an automatic output increase or
decrease if the price of a basket of OPEC crudes remains above 28
dollars or below US$22 a barrel for 20 consecutive working days.

If the price goes above the $28 mark, OPEC will increase
output by 500,000 barrels, and if it falls below $22 they will
decrease output by the same amount.

Benchmark Brent crude for October delivery was trading at
$30.73 a barrel on Thursday in London.