Reply #12: "I don't believe there's a shortage in the market" says Qatar oil minister [View All]

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OPEC can't stop price rise

Monday, April 03, 2006

OPEC, which pumps 40 percent of the world's oil, is unable to stop crude prices from reaching US$70 (HK$546) a barrel as geopolitical crises in member states Nigeria, Iraq and Iran are driving up oil prices, Qatar's oil minister said.

"We are doing all we can to meet demand but prices are rising because of Iran, Nigeria and Iraq," Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said Sunday in Doha, Qatar.

"Even if prices reach US$70 a barrel, what can OPEC do?"

"International economies can absorb US$60 oil," said the oil minister of Qatar. "I don't believe there's a shortage in the market as more than one million barrels a day are going into inventories," al-Attiyah said.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=10&art_id=15694&sid=7342802&con_type=1&d_str=20060403