August 23, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-us-Sani 24, 1424

LONDON, Aug 22: Opec oil exporters held a meeting on Friday to discuss the distribution of oil supply quotas among the cartel’s 11 members on Friday but little change was expected to come of the talks.

Algeria, one of Opec’s smallest producers, requested a larger share of the group’s ceiling last year on the basis that its production capacity and reserves have risen since individual Opec shares were last fixed in 1998.

This prompted Opec to convene a meeting of experts to study the criteria used to decide who can produce what.

“It is difficult to overstate the importance of the Opec production quota to both the organisation and the global oil market,” said Opec Secretary-General Alvaro Silva in an address to the experts at Opec’s Vienna headquarters.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries supplies about half of world oil exports, aiming to keep oil prices up around $25 per barrel by setting quotas. Saudi Arabia currently dwarfs all other members with a quota of 8.3 million bpd. The next largest is Iran on 3.7 million.

Experts from 10 Opec countries, excluding Iraq, aim to identify an “objective, technical basis for determining future quota allocations,” Silva said.

Some countries believe that quotas ought to be based on each country’s production capacity, while others believe that proven reserves should be used. Some have even suggested that factors such as population and poverty should be factored in.

But previous attempts to nail down a formula have failed.

Leo Drollas of London’s Centre for Global Energy Studies said he did not expect any country to agree to a smaller share of Opec’s output pie, which now stands at 25.4 million bpd for 10 members excluding Iraq.—Reuters