PEC blames 'mismanaged' U.S. economy for soaring oil prices

OPEC blames 'mismanaged' U.S. economy for soaring oil prices | By Jad Mouawad | Published: March 6, 2008

OPEC, rebuffing calls from U.S. President George W. Bush to increase oil output, cited "mismanagement" of the American economy as a major factor driving prices up.
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The cartel's president on Wednesday blamed financial speculators and American economic problems, which have helped lower the value of the dollar, for the high oil prices. After the meeting, oil prices settled above $104 a barrel, a record.
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Oil prices settled at a record of $104.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of $5. Prices, which have risen 73 percent this year, have settled above the $100-per-barrel mark for seven of the past 12 trading sessions.
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The dollar has lost 17 percent of its value against the euro this year. On Wednesday, it fell to a new low against the euro, trading at $1.53.

"OPEC is angry that President Bush wants them to increase production while the dollar is sinking and the administration is doing nothing about that," said Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer. in New York. "It's really not surprising that they have ignored him."
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"If the prices are high, definitely they are not due to a lack of crude," Khelil said in Vienna. "They are due to what's happening in the U.S."

He added: "There is sufficient supply. There's plenty of oil there."

Most energy analysts agree there is no shortage of oil. Commercial oil inventories are high, and refiners are not lacking oil.

"The market continues to be well supplied," Rex Tillerson, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, said at a conference in New York. "There has been no interruption of supplies." ...