OPEC Agrees To Boost Crude Oil Output
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
VIENNA, Austria — OPEC sought to reassure jittery oil markets yesterday by agreeing to boost crude production by 500,000 barrels a day — a move the cartel conceded was prompted partly by “clouds on the horizon” from America’s housing slump.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said the higher output would begin November 1.
It pledged to “vigilantly monitor” the other factors buffeting crude markets, including worries that supplies might not keep pace with higher demand later this year as it becomes winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
Significantly, and surprisingly, the 12-nation cartel said the increase would be based on current production, meaning it will add real oil to the market.
In the recent past, OPEC has raised only its official output quota — and because it tends to pump over those targets, the increases were purely cosmetic.
