Yamani Says OPEC Closer to Price Accord

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries moved toward a compromise Tuesday on cutting oil prices, but a second full day of negotiations was recessed with no final agreement.

“We’re close to a compromise,” Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the chief Saudi delegate, told reporters before entering an evening session that lasted more than three hours. Afterward he offered no assessment of the talks.

Indonesian Oil Minister Subroto, who is president of OPEC, said the deliberations would be resumed today. He said there had been no agreement on the price question.

Yamani declined to say how large the proposed cut would be. He said more negotiations were needed to work out “the methodology” of the price cut.

Progress Confirmed

Other ministers confirmed that progress toward a price agreement had been made during Tuesday’s meetings.

“My thinking is a compromise will try to accommodate prices of OPEC to market realities,” said Arturo Hernandez Grisanti, the oil minister of Venezuela. In the open market, OPEC oils are selling for at least $1 a barrel below official prices.

“I don’t think anyone can say exactly what that compromise will be,” Hernandez Grisanti added.

Subroto told reporters that most of the group’s evening session had been devoted to discussing the mechanics of a recently devised system for auditing member countries’ oil production. He also said the ministers had “confirmed the determination of OPEC” to defend the organization and to stabilize the price of oil.

Not Even Close

Earlier in the day, conference sources said the most likely price reduction would be a modest 50 cents a barrel and would be limited to OPEC’s lower-grade oil, which currently has an official price of $26.50 a barrel.

Such a cut would not come close to meeting the open-market price of $25 a barrel that was quoted Tuesday for August delivery of OPEC’s Saudi heavy oil.

The price of Saudi light crude, the premium blend upon which OPEC bases prices of its top-quality crudes, was expected to be held at the current $28 a barrel.