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Qatar Says Oil Price Beyond OPEC's Control, Blames Political Clashes in Nigeria

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 09:00 CDT

Highlighting the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries's lack of control over rising oil prices, Qatar's oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah has said that the price rise is due to speculation and political disturbances in oil-producing countries such as Nigeria and that there is nothing that the organization can do to reduce the oil prices, reported Reuters.

Amidst mounting pressure from the US and other major oil consumers to increase the supply of oil to reduce the oil price, the minister reportedly said that oil supplies were sufficient and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) need not hold any emergency meeting to discuss steps that can be taken to control the oil prices.

"We don't need to meet before September because we have nothing to do before September. We are not trading in psychological markets. The oil price is out of our control," he was quoted as saying.

Though Mr Attiyah maintained that there is no extra demand from refiners for more oil supplies, an OPEC source who is familiar with the developments at the organization, reportedly said that the producer group might consult on whether it needs to increase oil output before September 2008 if crude oil prices continue to shoot.

Meanwhile, a ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is likely to take place in Moscow in autumn 2008, which will have experts from the GECF member countries participating. According to Mr Attiyah, they are presently preparing the agenda for the meeting.

Source: Datamonitor

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