reacting to the weekend terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia on top of an already tight market. This is the highest nominal settlement price since the founding of the NYMEX crude oil futures market in 1983. (WSJ) June 3: OPEC Ministers meeting in Beirut agree to raise OPEC production quotas by a combined effective July 1 and a further effective August 1. This will bring the combined quota in August for the 10 OPEC countries participating in the quota system (Iraq does not participate) to . Crude oil prices fall somewhat in response to this news. OPEC is scheduled to meet again on July 21 to review this decision. (AP) June 4: U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce William H. Lash announces that Libya has sent its first shipment of crude oil to the United States since the resumption of ties between the two countries in recent months. (AP) June 15: Workers at French state energy companies Electricité de France and Gaz de France go on strike in protest over plans to privatize the two companies. Workers reduce electricity output by about 15% on June 15 and by 10% on June 16. A 225-kilovolt line between France and Spain is also cut, and reductions are targeted at areas where prominent politicians live and at national landmarks as the strike continues throughout the month. The striking workers also cause delivery reductions at two LNG terminals. (Reuters) July 15: OPEC agrees to raise its crude oil production target by (2% of current OPEC production) by August 1—in an effort to moderate high crude oil prices. (WSJ) July 22: Yukos, one of Russia’s largest crude oil producers, warns that it could go bankrupt within three weeks because of the government's decision to freeze its assets and bank accounts, jeopardizing the operations of Russia's largest oil producer and potentially disrupting the company's exports to world markets. (WP) August 9: The Russian government disregards the August 6 ruling of a Moscow court and seizes the main production unit of Yukos, Yuganskneftegaz. On August 6, the court had declared that the Russian government's seizure of Yuganskneftegaz was illegal, a decision which had marked the first major court victory for Yukos since Russian authorities began proceedings against the company more than a year ago. Furthermore, on August 5, the government had unexpectedly withdrawn permission for Yukos to use its financial assets to continue operations, reversing a decision made 24