Opec oil ministers plan to discuss output flexibility with six rival exporting nations next week

Opec oil ministers plan to discuss output flexibility with six rival exporting nations next week as part of contingency planning in the event of a halt in Iraqi supply, an Opec official said yesterday. Oil prices hit 12-year highs last week near $40 per barrel on fears that any attack on Iraq will disrupt supplies from the Gulf. Opec, which has recently lifted output to cover for a crippling three-month strike in Venezuela, would struggle to compensate for a total loss of Iraqi exports. "Just in case Opec cannot compensate for a shortage in the event of war, these countries could do something," an official said. Opec ministers will meet representatives from Russia, Norway, Mexico, Oman, Syria and Egypt on the morning of next Tuesday, ahead of a formal Opec meeting in Vienna later on the same day. Many of these countries have participated in recent output restrictions with Opec, when oil prices were half current levels. The International Energy Agency estimated last month that the world had 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of spare oil output capacity versus latest Iraqi output of 2.5m. Nascent oil exporters Kazakhstan and Angola have not been invited to the talks.