	saudi output said at year low to help opec saudi arabian oil output has fallen to its lowest level in more than a year giving fresh evidence of the kingdom s determination to keep oil prices at dlrs a barrel as agreed by opec last december oil industry sources said they said saudi output in the first eight days of march averaged mln barrels per day bpd including oil from the neutral zone shared with kuwait compared to a february average of mln bpd they said saudi arabia was also selling oil from its  oil stocks in tankers around the world which opec says must be counted towards a member s production quota saudi arabia s quota is mln bpd the lower production levels indicated saudi arabia the world s largest oil exporter was insisting on getting opec official prices even at the cost of lower production the sources said king fahd reiterated yesterday in an interview with reuters and the television news agency visnews the saudi commitment to opec s december pact to boost oil prices to an average dlrs saudi arabia is completely sticking to opec decisions he said the sources said the kingdom s exports from gulf ports averaged one mln bpd during the eight days ending last sunday down from a february average of mln bpd they said saudi arabia was allowing production to fluctuate with lifting nominations and was not trying to maintain artificially high levels by putting oil into storage the kingdom s main buyers the four u s oil firms with past stakes in the national oil company aramco mobil exxon texaco and chevron enjoy considerable flexibility in the timing and volume of their liftings but are bound to pay official prices the sources said spot market prices have firmed in the past two weeks but still remain below opec levels and major buyers have delayed liftings in the hope they would improve the sources said they expected low early march output to pick up towards the end of the month as buyers sought to fulfill their contractual obligations reuter 
