ConocoPhillips CEO says record crude prices a foe

HOUSTON (Reuters) – The CEO of ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said on Wednesday world crude oil supplies are adequate and not to blame for record prices, which have taken a toll on the industry.

“High oil prices have not really been our friend as an industry,” Chief Executive James Mulva told the company’s annual meeting.


Record crude oil prices have hurt energy companies by driving up costs for goods and services and by prompting national oil companies to renegotiate the terms of production deals, Mulva told a news conference after the meeting.

Still, in the 2008 first quarter Conoco’s net profit rose 17 percent to $4.14 billion.

OPEC nations such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have plentiful inventories of crude oil, Mulva told reporters.

Reuters