LONDON, 21 May 2004 — High oil prices are largely the result of factors out of OPEC’s control, such as a tight gasoline market, violence in the Middle East and speculative buying, OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro said yesterday. “We cannot take the responsibility for the high oil price as only OPEC’s burden,” he said.“The remaining players — non-OPEC (producers), traders, speculators and consumers — also contribute to the oil price,” Yusgiantoro, who is also Indonesia’s energy minister, told reporters in London. “The main factors for high oil prices are not because of the crude market but because of gasoline (worries), speculators, and geopolitics — the situation in the Middle East,” he added. OPEC, which produces about a third of the world’s crude oil, agreed in March to cut output by one million barrels per day to 23.5 million bpd from April 1, dismaying consumers.
However, the organization is now producing two million bpd above its official quota, with output running at between 85 and 90 percent of full capacity, Yusgiantoro said on the sidelines of an investment conference.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is facing growing calls from consumers to increase output to try to bring down prices which have reached all-time highs above $41 per barrel in New York. The price of Brent North Sea crude oil for July delivery dipped 15 cents to $37.75 per barrel in late trading here, while New York’s light sweet crude for June edged up five cents to $41.55 in early deals.
OPEC ministers are due to convene in Amsterdam tomorrow on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum to consider a proposal by Saudi Arabia to raise production quotas by 1.5 million bpd. Yusgiantoro said it was still unclear whether energy ministers from all 11 OPEC member countries would attend the gathering, noting that all decisions by the organization must be made unanimously.