11/1/2000

Iraq delays action that could send oil prices soaring

From Staff Reports

Iraq has postponed until November 6 action that could have sent crude oil prices soaring.

Iraqi officials said Monday that the country would begin trading its crude oil in euros instead of dollars. The complex currency switch would have meant that Iraq's 2.4 million barrels per day could have been removed from the market, stretching world supplies to the limit.

Energy experts say the possibility of $40 oil prices has not gone away, but has merely been postponed until November 6, the day before the presidential elections.

In the meantime, OPEC said it would increase production another 500,000 barrels per day in an effort to stay within the cartel's trading band of $22-$27 per barrel.

The increase in production, however, is not expected to have much, if any, impact on oil prices which closed Tuesday at $32.80 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 01, 2000