Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
29 March 2000
OPEC member countries met on 27th and 28th March to review their decision to cut oil production by 6 million barrels per day. OPEC agreed to increase crude oil production.
A production increase of 2 million barrels per day would be necessary for supply to balance demand. However the increase agreed to is less than 1.5 million barrels per day. This is less than the 2 to 2.5 million barrels per day sought by the United States of America and the 5 million barrels per day sought by South Africa.
This means that it is likely that oil prices will stay high and that although the oil price spike has been blunted the world is not back to market pricing.
Responding to the OPEC decision, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said "South Africa is pleased that OPEC took international opinion into account in their deliberations. We welcome this move as a first step towards the right direction. The government remains very much concerned with the impact of the high crude oil prices on consumers and on economy".
However, once again, we would like to appeal to fuel consumers to adopt a fuel saving approach. Shortly, a government-business fuel saving initiative will be launched. Through it, we hope to empower consumers and alleviate their burden". She added.
Enquiries: Mr Kanyo Gqulu, Tel: (012) 322 8695