Oil prices go down on promise from OPEC

June 4, 2004

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped nearly 10 percent from recent record highs on Friday as rising stockpiles in the United States and the promise of more OPEC barrels soothed worries of a summer supply crunch.

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April 19, 2004

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, promised President Bush the Saudis would cut oil prices before November to ensure the U.S. economy is strong on election day, journalist Bob Woodward said in a television interview Sunday.

In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" about his new book "Plan of Attack" on the Bush administration's preparations for the Iraq war, Woodward, a senior editor at the Washington Post, said Prince Bandar pledged the Saudi's would try to fine-tune oil prices to prime the U.S. economy for the election -- a move they understood would favor Bush's re-election.

Questioned about his assertion at a time when oil prices are nearing a 13-year high, Woodward responded:

"They're high. And they could go down very quickly. That's the Saudi pledge. Certainly over the summer or as we get closer to the election they could increase production several million barrels a day and the price would drop significantly."

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Could there be some connection between these two news items? I really don't know anything about how OPEC handles decisions, and how much power the Saudis have there, but I just thought it was an interesting coincidence.

Any thoughts? Info?