Nigerian Times

13 May 2008 17:45 Africa/Lagos Pelosi: President Should Push OPEC for Increased Production, Abandon His 'Drill and Veto' Policies WASHINGTON, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement prior to President Bush departing today on a five-day trip to the Middle East, including a stop in Saudi Arabia on Friday: "The White House has indicated that President Bush will push Saudi officials for OPEC to increase production in an effort to bring down prices for American consumers. As the largest oil producer and exporter, Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned to influence the price at the pump and the President must use his close ties to help consumers who are in desperate need of relief. "While I hope the President will return with concrete assurances that OPEC will take swift action to bring down prices, in the past the Administration's calls have been ineffective, making it all the more necessary for Congress to step in to...

9 May 2008 21:57 Africa/Lagos Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 31.87 Million Barrels per Day of Crude Oil in April, Down 350,000 b/d LONDON, May 9/PRNewswire/ -- The 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped an average 31.87 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in April, a 350,000 b/d decrease from March, according to a Platts (http://www.platts.com/) survey of OPEC and oil industry officials released Friday. The sharp drop was largely the result of steep output losses in Nigeria. Excluding Iraq, the 12 members which participate in output agreements pumped an average 29.49 million b/d, 360,000 b/d down from an estimated 29.85 million b/d in March. "OPEC production has been relatively steady in recent months, but the sharp fall in Nigerian output shows how vulnerable overall supply from the group can be to developments in one country," said John Kingston, Platts global director of oil. "Given that spare capacity is also relatively...