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In the face of soaring crude oil prices, OPEC's Chakib Khelil on Tuesday reiterated OPEC's position that the high prices are not due to low supply to the market, and that there is no need for an increase in OPEC output to influence prices.
Khelil, who is the president of OPEC and oil minister of Algeria, commenting at an oil industry conference in London, said that "High prices are here...to stay. No one can say if it will be $100 a barrel, $110 or above".
He reiterated the view that the current price conditions had more to do with factors relating to the economic crisis in the US and dollar weakness.
"The major concern is the economic crisis in the US and the downfall of the dollar," he said.
Khelil's comments echo those made early in January by Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, shortly after crude oil prices had breached the $100 mark for the first time.
"We have enough oil in the market ... we see current prices [as being] fair to producing nations" Ramirez said, as he predicted that prices would stay at around $100 per barrel due to high production costs and world economy worries. The "times of cheap oil are over," Ramirez concluded. |
