VENEZUELA BACKS INCREASE IN ECUADOR OPEC QUOTA
  Venezuela will back Ecuador's bid to
  raise its OPEC quota above 221,000 barrels per day (bpd)
  because it is a justifiable demand, Venezuelan Energy Minister
  Arturo Hernandez Grisanti said on Monday.
      He told reporters the country deserved a higher quota in
  compensation for the five months it was forced to suspend oil
  production when its main pipeline was destroyed by an
  earthquake last March.
      "For this five-month period, Ecuador did not exercise its
  right to produce 221,000 bpd," he said. "We should recognize
  Ecuador's right to increase its quota ... There is a basis of
  justice in that country's petition."
      He added however, the quota increase should be gradual to
  avoid harming the market, he added.
      Hernandez Grisanti said he understood Ecuador would
  formally submit the request for a higher quota at the next
  ministerial conference of the Organization of Petroleum
  Exporting Countries (OPEC) opening December 9 in Vienna.
  

