Saudi Arabia will oppose any moves to...

Saudi Arabia will oppose any moves to raise OPEC’s oil prices before the end of 1988 unless a real increase in demand emerges, a Saudi official said. Kuwait’s oil minister, Sheikh Ali al-Khalifa al-Sabah, agreed, saying his country was in favor of maintaining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ benchmark oil price at $18 a barrel. The Saudi official disputed remarks made over the weekend by Iran’s deputy oil minister, who said that a consensus was emerging to raise prices to $20 a barrel when OPEC meets in December.