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OPEC's proven crude oil reserves rose 12.1 percent in 2010 to 1.19 trillion barrels led by Venezuela, which has surpassed Saudi Arabia as the group's largest reserves holder, OPEC said in its Annual Statistical Bulletin.
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AP |
OPEC's growth in oil reserves was mainly due to Venezuela, whose holdings climbed to 296.5 billion barrels from 211.2 billion in 2009, the report said. Top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia's reserves were steady at 264.5 billion barrels.
Iran and Iraq also boosted their reserves last year. In October, Iran increased its reserves to 150 billion barrels within a week of an upward revision by Iraq, ensuring that Tehran continued to rank above Baghdad.
"OPEC has a fantastic history of competitive reserves upgrades," said Bill Farren-Price, analyst at Petroleum Policy Intelligence.
Reserves are one of the criteria OPEC has used in setting output targets. Iran and Iraq were rivals in the past over OPEC quotas, and OPEC in the next few years is expected to tackle the issue of bringing Iraq back into the quota system. Iraq is exempt at present.
Iraq boosted its reserves to 143 billion barrels last year, up 24 percent, the report said. Iraq has said its reserves increased as work by international oil companies started to yield results.
Venezuela's move to the No. 1 reserves spot bumps Iran and Iraq to third and fourth place respectively. Commenting on the OPEC report, an Iranian official said the country still held its status as OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia.
"Iran is still the second crude producer of OPEC and insists on this," an unnamed Oil Ministry official told Iran's state news agency IRNA on Tuesday.
Rising global share
OPEC said a year ago its reserves increased in 2009 because of Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez's government said in January it had had overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world leader.
Venezuela's new deposits were booked in the South American country's Orinoco extra heavy crude belt.
The boost in Venezuela's figures helped OPEC attain a larger share of the global total. OPEC holds 81.3 percent of the world's proven crude reserves, up from 79.6 percent in 2009, the report said.
Saudi Arabia, by far OPEC's largest exporter, holds an advantage in that its oil is mostly light, conventional, easily-pumped crude. The Orinoco oil needs to be upgraded or mixed with a lighter grade to create an exportable blend.
Some countries such as Algeria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had no change in their reserves in 2010 or in any year since 2006, the report said.
This trend has also given rise to doubts about the estimates, as analysts say it is unlikely new additions to reserves will exactly match production.
OPEC's 12 members pump more than a third of the world's oil. Several producers, including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, have denied suggestions their reserves have been exaggerated.Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad said Thursday that it's impossible to enact the "Gang of Six" plan for spending cuts, a tax code overhaul and changes in benefit programs by the Aug. 2 default deadline, so a short-term extension of the debt limit is the most likely solution.
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Melina Mara | The Washington Post | Getty Images Kent Conrad |
The North Dakota Democrat, part of the so-called "Gang of Six" senators, said doing nothing is not an option.
"We're all going to have to do things we'd prefer in a perfect world not to have to do," he said.
Conrad's comments came after President Obama signaled Wednesday that he could support a short-term increase in the U.S. borrowing limit as long as it is part of a broader deficit reduction deal.
Obama previously promised to veto a short-term extension of the $14.3 trillion debt limit. But White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a written statement the president would consider an exception if congressional leaders look like they're getting close to a deal for a long-term debt limit extension with deficit reduction.
Conrad told MSNBC he believes 40 senators back his group's $3.7 trillion deficit-reduction proposal and a program of tax changes and revisions in the Social Security and Medicare programs.
"Our tax system is completely out of date," Conrad said in a separate interview on CNBC. "It’s anticompetitive, it's antigrowth, it's holding us back, it's hemorrhaging revenue. We can do a lot better than that. It’s going to take time."
In the CNBC interview, Conrad said the plan would cut the deficit by $3.7 trillion in 10 years, of which a $500 billion "downpayment" would come within six months. It would also raise $1 trillion in new revenue, repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax and lower tax rates besides making major changes to entitlements.
He conceded that some proposals are unpopular, but said "we're all going to have to do things we'd prefer in a perfect world not to have to do."
The bipartisan plan would target some of the most cherished tax breaks enjoyed by millions of families—those promoting health insurance, home ownership, charitable giving and retirement savings—in exchange for lowering overall tax rates for everyone.
Many taxpayers would face higher taxes—a total of at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade, and perhaps more.
The plan, released this week, punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details later.
But supporters say it provides a framework to simplify the tax code, making it easier for businesses and individuals to comply while eliminating incentives to game the system.
"I think this is an attempt to find a middle ground on taxes that emphasizes keeping rates low and broadening the base as much as possible, and I think that's a very positive aspect of it," said Eugene Steuerle, a former Treasury official who worked on the last tax reform package that passed Congress, in 1986.
The plan, released this week, punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details later?
But supporters say it provides a framework to simplify the tax code, making it easier for businesses and individuals to comply while eliminating incentives to game the system?
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