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JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: Organization of
Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC) President Chakib Khelil on
Sunday opposed increased production to counter record oil costs
saying “the price is disconnected from fundamentals” of supply
and demand.
“We believe that the market is
in equilibrium. The price is disconnected from fundamentals. It is
not a problem of supply,” Khelil, the Algerian oil minister, told
a briefing as an international summit on the oil price crisis
started in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
“Why would you have a supply
problem when demand is going down,” he said.
Khelil said the 13-nation OPEC
had decided that no special meeting on production was needed now and
that a decision would be made at a regular OPEC meeting in
September.
Western consumer nations at the
Jeddah summit want increased production to ease supply concerns
which they said have forced prices up to almost $140 a barrel. OPEC
countries said market “speculators” have played a key role in
pushing up global prices.
“We believe speculation, in its
noble and not noble terms, has its impact. Supply, demand and stocks
are the only things we can measure,” the OPEC chief said.
Khelil refused to answer
questions about why Saudi Arabia, the top world exporter and OPEC
giant, has decided to increase production by another 200,000 barrels
a day.
Khelil said much of the price
explosion can be explained by currency turmoil around the dollar.
“A lot of people are talking about the uncertainties about the
reserves. But what about the uncertainties on the dollar?
“We are here to discuss what
makes the price behave the way it has behaved over the last year,”
he said.
“OPEC’s position is that at
this stage, we need to study the market and we will meet in
September to make a decision.”
--AFP
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