BEIJING -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries doesn't need to raise oil production and any increase will not affect prices, officials including the group's president, Chakib Khelil, said.
"Any increase in production now will not have an impact on prices because there is a balance between supply and demand," Khelil said during a visit to the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kuwait's state news agency reported. "We in OPEC raised production last year and prices remained high. If we increase production we will not find people to buy the increment."
Crude oil futures have doubled in three years, touching a record 116.97 U.S. dollars a barrel on Friday in New York. High prices are caused by an economic crisis in the U.S. and the decline of the value of the U.S. dollar, he said. OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla el-Badri also blamed the weak dollar and commodity speculators for high prices.
"As long as these factors keep contributing to the market, we may see higher prices," OPEC's el-Badri told reporters yesterday in Rome, where he is attending the three-day International Energy Forum, a biennial meeting of officials from energy producing and consuming countries.
The gain in oil has "nothing to do with fundamentals," the secretary general said, adding that consumption in some parts of the world, including the U.S., may be affected, Bloomberg News said.
"Any increase in production now will not have an impact on prices because there is a balance between supply and demand," Khelil said during a visit to the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kuwait's state news agency reported. "We in OPEC raised production last year and prices remained high. If we increase production we will not find people to buy the increment."
Crude oil futures have doubled in three years, touching a record 116.97 U.S. dollars a barrel on Friday in New York. High prices are caused by an economic crisis in the U.S. and the decline of the value of the U.S. dollar, he said. OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla el-Badri also blamed the weak dollar and commodity speculators for high prices.
"As long as these factors keep contributing to the market, we may see higher prices," OPEC's el-Badri told reporters yesterday in Rome, where he is attending the three-day International Energy Forum, a biennial meeting of officials from energy producing and consuming countries.
The gain in oil has "nothing to do with fundamentals," the secretary general said, adding that consumption in some parts of the world, including the U.S., may be affected, Bloomberg News said.
