March 16, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 12, 1424

NICOSIA, March 15: Crude production from the Opec oil cartel soared 8.6 per cent or 2.217 million barrels a day in February to 27.88 million bpd, the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reports on Saturday.

With Venezuela resuming output and a significant surge from Gulf states, output by the Opec 10 without Iraq climbed 10.1 per cent to 25.45 million bpd last month from 23.113 million bpd in January, the industry newsletter says.

Opec 10 output was 950,000 bpd above the ceiling of 24.5 million bpd effective since February 1, MEES notes.

Iraqi production fell 120,000 bpd as exports to Turkey by truck were suspended, Indonesia dropped 60,000 bpd and Nigeria held steady at 2.15 million bpd.

The biggest increases were seen in Venezuela which boosted output last month by 880,000 bpd and Saudi Arabia up 800,000 bpd.

Algerian production hit a new all-time high of 1.15 million bpd which was expected to rise to 1.25 million bpd this month, the Cyprus-based specialist said.—AFP