|
PARIS - ORGANISATION of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said that high oil prices were not caused by a shortage of oil supplies and that other factors were to blame.
"Let me be clear, the high prices which we are witnessing are not because of any shortage of crude oil in the market", he said on Wednesday.
On a tour of the Middle East, United States President George W Bush raised the issue of high oil prices during his talks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whose country is the world's top crude producer and the most influential Opec member.
Mr Bush's spokesman Dana Perino said on Wednesday that there was hope that "as a result of these conversations that Opec would be encouraged to authorise an increase in production".
Ministers from the 13-member cartel, which pumps about 40 per cent of world crude, are to gather in Vienna on Feb 1 for a special policy-setting meeting.
Mr Badri, after stressing that the organisation saw no shortage, said Opec would be prepared to increase production if it saw evidence that supply and demand were out of balance.
"Opec is constantly monitoring the oil market and if at any time fundamentals justified such a move, the Organisation stands ready to raise production", he said.
He added: "I would like to reiterate that this price trend is a consequence of persistent geopolitical tensions, the weakening of the US dollar, ongoing limitations and restraints in the US refining system and the increasing role of speculators in the oil market".
Later, in an address to the Nicosia chamber of commerce in Cyprus, he said "supply is sufficient and demand growth is moderate". He was asked if he thought US$100 (S$143) a barrel was too high, and what Opec's pricing strategy was.
"We don't want to see high oil prices or low oil prices. We want to see prices controlled by fundamentals, and I hope fundamentals will prevail by the end of the day".
Reading earlier from prepared remarks, he said Opec "will continue to play its role in a proactive manner to ensure that the world economy is well supplied and oil markets are stable for the benefit of the world as a whole".
Oil prices had dropped to just under US$90 a barrel on Wednesday after briefly spiking to a record above US$100 for the first time earlier this month. -- AFP
| 
