OPEC believes oil prices are too high: delegate

[bluedog]

***********okay...so whats the problem??

DUBAI (Reuters) - OPEC believes oil prices are too steep, after setting a fresh record high above $70 a barrel, and the rise is not justified by market fundamentals, a senior OPEC delegate said on Tuesday.

The delegate said there was no shortage of crude oil supply and that OPEC giant Saudi Arabia and other producers had pledged in the past to keep markets well supplied.

"OPEC believes strongly that prices are too high and nobody wants to see these prices," the delegate told Reuters. "(But) it has nothing to do with fundamentals."

snip


"Geopolitics are riding the price," the OPEC delegate said, stressing that there was no shortage of crude in the market.

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0002/20060418/0512430251.htm

[Singular73]

1. Suuuuuuure they do.

lol.

[OhioNerd]

5. Actually, they probably DO feel that way.

Actually, they probably DO feel that way. The last time Americans were deeply shocked by fuel prices, they did a lot of things to conserve, including buying more fuel efficient vehicles, and the bottom dropped out of the oil market.

OPEC wants prices high because they're in the business of selling oil. However, they do NOT want the prices so high that their customer's behavior changes in a way that negatively impacts their bottom line. What's the point in having your commodity's price going up at the cost of your sales volume dropping even faster?

[bigtree]

2. Of course they don't mind the increased revenue

but it's interesting that they are putting the geopolitical factors at the head of their rationale for the oil price rise. It's a self-serving explanation that is, in fact, a reality.

Since the price is determined by the three major oil exchanges, it would follow that the speculators are using the heightened tensions that Bush is generating with his militarism to float the price of oil futures higher, pushing the barrel price higher.

my take: A Militarist Manipulates the Oil Market

[Richard D]

3. Maybe they can lower the price . . .

. . . by tomorrow so I can afford to fill up my car.

[Warpy]

4. The prices are this high because of that belligerent drunk in the

White House, not because OPEC is controlling the tap. Yes, they think prices are too high because prices this high will spur conservation and they'll sell less oil. Some places may, horror of horrors, improve public transportation because of them.

Remember, these prices are commoditiy futures, not actual money changing hands at the pump in real time. Commodity markets are nervous enterprises and respond to the slightest thing with near panic. Having Stupid threaten to turn part of the Middle East into a sheet of obsidian is certainly reason enough for them all to panic.

I sincerely doubt we'll ever see prices below $60/bbl. Oil company insiders are no longer dreaming about a return to $40/bbl oil the way they were back in February. I doubt we'll see gas prices dip much below $2.50.

All bets about gas prices are off, though, if we have another bad hurricane season in the Gulf.

[bigtree]

6. there's where the root of the future lies

there's a lot of indication that with several moves to increase refinery capacity (the U.S. has a growing surplus now of unprocessed crude), increase reserve production by those who can (Kuwait says they are willing to pump up the volume, Qatar said yesterday thet would increase production), and the inevitability of the new fields coming on line (albeit, not until the start of the next decade), the prices will migrate back downward from the terror bubble Bush has created.

But, if he causes a military confrontation with Iran, or if he manages to get some sanction regime through the UN that cuts off Iran's supply, the price will shoot up over $100 a barrel and put us into a recession.


my take: A Militarist Manipulates the Oil Market

[bluedog]

7. OPEC could do themselves & the U.S. a big

OPEC could do themselves & the U.S. a big

service by telling the world how much they get per barrel of crude, which would allow all people of all nations, to see who is screwing all of us!