OPEC Unable to Agree as Meeting Nears End

Unanimous agreement among OPEC states on oil price targets, overall output ceilings or national production quotas looked as far away as ever on Sunday as the 13 oil ministers neared the end of their conference.

After Saturday’s 9-4 split in favor of a price target of $17 to $19 a barrel and a ceiling of 17.6 million barrels per day, OPEC’s patient conciliator, Indonesian Oil Minister Subroto, tried to persuade his divided colleagues to accept a plan for parceling out production.

But Algeria’s minister left Brioni, Gabon said the proposals were senseless, Libya was publicly silent but still refusing to agree and Iran’s Gholamreza Aghazadeh was implacably opposed to it.

“If they (the OPEC majority) allocate the quotas based on some political intentions . . . then we are not going to abide ourselves with the quota allocated to us,” he said.

Session Lasted Less Than Two Hours

And reiterating Iran’s opposition to any concession to its Persian Gulf war enemy, he said: “Whatever figure they are going to add to the Iraqis, they have to double it for us.”

After Sunday’s session, which lasted less than two hours, United Arab Emirates minister Mana Said Oteiba predicted that the conference would finish today, adding that he would certainly leave. “What are we staying for? Are we tourists?” he said.

OPEC’s spokesman said Subroto had not consulted with every minister, and delegates said the plenary session had not dealt with the vital quota issue today.

Even Saudi Arabia’s Sheik Yamani, one of the main proponents of the higher ceiling and gradual price increase, admitted that the quota allocations were far from agreed. “We are working on it--it will take some time,” he told reporters.

Many delegates predicted the ministers will hold a final session tomorrow, leaving Subroto to conclude his persuasions and ministers to consult their governments in the coming weeks.

Yamani told an interviewer that another conference might then be held, perhaps in as little as one month’s time.