Oil at US$100 not our fault: OPEC

LONDON — OPEC officials lined up to say the exporter group could do little to tame oil prices that hit US$100 a barrel for the first time on Wednesday and world markets had enough crude oil.

The comments underline the view of the producer group that factors other than supply are driving oil’s record run. Officials said there was no plan for an emergency OPEC meeting before a scheduled February 1 gathering.


“The problem is not shortage of supply,” Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, international affairs director at the National Iranian Oil Company, told Reuters on Thursday. Iran is OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia.

“I think the main problem is outside the oil market. Too much liquidity is available,” Ghanimifard said. “A big part of it is in the paper market of crude oil.”

Financial Post