ID :
11238
Wed, 07/02/2008 - 01:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/11238
The shortlink copeid
Iran says OPEC can't do much to cool oil prices
Madrid, July 1 (PTI) Iran, the world's second largest oil
exporter, Tuesday said it was "not happy" with the spurt in oil prices to a record high of USD 142 a barrel but said the cartel OPEC could not do much to cool the rates.
"Even we as (oil) producers are not happy with the (current) prices," Iran Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari said on the sidelines of the 19th World Petroleum Congress here.
Blaming the volatility in global crude prices to the weakening of US dollar against euro, he said the rise in demand in China and India had nothing to do with the spurt in prices.
"We have never said that the rise in demand in China and India is causing rise in prices. We do not subscribe to that," he said. "I have always insisted that the spectacular rise is due to devaluation of dollar."
Besides, speculators have added to the rise, he said but could not quantify as what amount of the current prices had been a result of pure speculation.
"The market is well supplied," Nozari said. "To a large extent, the increase in price is due to the weakening of the dollar."
The OPEC's second largest oil exporter did not see prices cooling down in near future. "May be it may rise further (than OPEC President Chakib Khelils prediction at USD 170 a barrel this summer)."
"OPEC can't do much about it (rising prices)," he said.
Meanwhile, Khalil addressing the WPC Tuesday said OPEC was
concerned that future demand for oil might not be strong enough to justify investment to boost oil production.
"The concern we have is about the security of demand," Khelil, who is also Algeria's energy minister, said. "We need to be assured of what to expect for future demand... There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to decision making about investing in upstream and downstream."
Cnooc Ltd, China's biggest offshore oil producer, said that high oil prices are driven by "severe concerns" about demand and uspply. "Speculators have expectations of the future demand," Cnooc Chairman Fu Chengyu said.
He said a weak dollar had contributed to the high oil price and speculators had taken advantage of a trend of rising demand for oil but the main reason was "severe concerns about the fundamentals of demand" now and in the future.
Western governments, Khelil said, have seen tax revenues rising due to record high oil prices and asked them to use the additional money to ease consumer sufferings.
"Taxes on petroleum products are 80 per cent. So for every dollar that OPEC gets, western countries get USD 4. They could actually transfer some of the revenues to sectors which suffer the most," he said.
During the era of low oil prices in the mid-1980s to late-1990s, the global oil industry did little to spend money to boost production. "Now everybody is going and investing at the same time," he said.
Khelil reiterated that the price of oil could rise to USD 150-170 during the summer in US, but ease toward the end of the year.
exporter, Tuesday said it was "not happy" with the spurt in oil prices to a record high of USD 142 a barrel but said the cartel OPEC could not do much to cool the rates.
"Even we as (oil) producers are not happy with the (current) prices," Iran Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari said on the sidelines of the 19th World Petroleum Congress here.
Blaming the volatility in global crude prices to the weakening of US dollar against euro, he said the rise in demand in China and India had nothing to do with the spurt in prices.
"We have never said that the rise in demand in China and India is causing rise in prices. We do not subscribe to that," he said. "I have always insisted that the spectacular rise is due to devaluation of dollar."
Besides, speculators have added to the rise, he said but could not quantify as what amount of the current prices had been a result of pure speculation.
"The market is well supplied," Nozari said. "To a large extent, the increase in price is due to the weakening of the dollar."
The OPEC's second largest oil exporter did not see prices cooling down in near future. "May be it may rise further (than OPEC President Chakib Khelils prediction at USD 170 a barrel this summer)."
"OPEC can't do much about it (rising prices)," he said.
Meanwhile, Khalil addressing the WPC Tuesday said OPEC was
concerned that future demand for oil might not be strong enough to justify investment to boost oil production.
"The concern we have is about the security of demand," Khelil, who is also Algeria's energy minister, said. "We need to be assured of what to expect for future demand... There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to decision making about investing in upstream and downstream."
Cnooc Ltd, China's biggest offshore oil producer, said that high oil prices are driven by "severe concerns" about demand and uspply. "Speculators have expectations of the future demand," Cnooc Chairman Fu Chengyu said.
He said a weak dollar had contributed to the high oil price and speculators had taken advantage of a trend of rising demand for oil but the main reason was "severe concerns about the fundamentals of demand" now and in the future.
Western governments, Khelil said, have seen tax revenues rising due to record high oil prices and asked them to use the additional money to ease consumer sufferings.
"Taxes on petroleum products are 80 per cent. So for every dollar that OPEC gets, western countries get USD 4. They could actually transfer some of the revenues to sectors which suffer the most," he said.
During the era of low oil prices in the mid-1980s to late-1990s, the global oil industry did little to spend money to boost production. "Now everybody is going and investing at the same time," he said.
Khelil reiterated that the price of oil could rise to USD 150-170 during the summer in US, but ease toward the end of the year.
