In a bid to halt the steady decline in the country’s oil production, the Egyptian government recently announced plans to increase exploration for additional reserves, confirmed Egyptian oil minister Sameh Fahmy at the recent opening of the seventh Arab Energy Conference. The country’s output of crude declined from 922,000 barrels a day (bpd) in 1996 to 639,000 bpd during the first 10 months of 2001.
The conference, attended by members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), revealed conflicting views on whether oil should be used as a political weapon. Despite the self-imposed Iraqi embargo, oil prices remained stable over the past month as other producers—including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait—publicly opposed the move, arguing against the use of oil as bargaining chip.
The government of Iraq halted oil exports for 30 days in April as an act of protest to Israel’s offensive against the Palestinians. The suspension was meant to force the United States, a major importer of Iraqi crude and other Western countries to pressure Israel into withdrawing from the Palestinian territories. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
