OPEC not to blame for US recession

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:41:26
OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri has stressed that the economic crisis in the US is not the consequence of high oil prices.

In an interview with Der Spiegel, Libyan national al-Badri said the recession in the US economy was ‘home-made’, caused by the subprime mortgage crisis and other financial market problems as well as the lack of American refinery capacity.

In a Tuesday meeting with Saudi King Abdullah, President George W. Bush called on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase oil production.

Al-Badri said if there was a need for an increase in oil production, OPEC would not ‘hesitate’ to do so, as it has the capacity to raise output up to six million barrels per day by 2012, ‘but at present we see no need for this’.

He said OPEC favored ’stable prices’ in the market and added that it was ‘highly unlikely’ that oil would reach USD 200.00 per barrel.

Al-Badri also noted that there had been a ‘lively discussion’ in the November OPEC summit about switching to the euro from the dollar for oil trading. “Such a switch in the main currency could be made, but it will need time,” he said.

The OPEC chief did not comment on a suggestion that Russia could join the organization and said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to Algeria, Iran and Qatar to form a separate organization had long-term prospects, as gas suppliers were generally tied into contracts for as long as 30 years.