March 5, 2002	Tuesday	Zilhaj 20, 1422

LONDON, March 4: Oil prices dipped on Monday as Opec and Russia launched talks in Moscow on shoring up a key pact on restricting supply.

A barrel of Brent North Sea crude ebbed back to $21.66 from 21.89 on Friday — the highest closing value for almost two months. Under the output deal, Opec countries reduced output by 1.5 million barrels per day.

Opec’s own basket price of seven world crudes pushed up to $20.39 a barrel on Friday from 20.03 on Thursday, according to the OPECNA news agency.—AFP