Crude Awakening

Three years ago, OPEC was a global oil power whose $35 price per bbl. of crude meant nightmarish gasoline prices and stagnant economies for the industrialized world. But along with staggering energy costs came recessions and conservation measures that whave resulted in a worldwide oil glut. Last week the 13 members of OPEC 1 gathered in Vienna and struggled to hold onto their bench-mark price of $29 per bbl. and a production ceiling of 17.5 million bbl. a day that they established in March 1983.

The oil ministers may have to live with the glut for a while longer. Quota cheating by the small Persian Gulf states and price discounting by Iran have swelled the cartel's actual production to 18.5 million bbl. In addition, North Sea oil output rose 13.5% during the first five months of this year. To meet those challenges, OPEC last week organized committees to press each member for lower production levels, and Saudi Arabian Petroleum Minister Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani agreed to ask London and Oslo for a rollback in North Sea production. Then, in a symbolic gesture of unity, the oil ministers allowed heavily indebted Nigeria to increase its daily production of 1.3 million bbl. by a total of 150,000 bbl.