Opec warns US

The US must stop harassing Opec members, Abdallah el-Badri, the cartel’s secretary-general, said in an interview published on Wednesday.

“As the world’s major power, I want them to stop harassing Opec countries,” he told Spanish newspaper El Pais, when asked about a move by the US congress to allow the justice department to sue Opec members for conspiring to restrict oil supplies or drive up prices. “With the boycott of Libya, the boycott of Iran and the problem created in Iraq, there are five million to six million barrels a day lacking on the market,” said the Libyan official.The soaring oil price was not due to “the myth” of the lack of supplies, as Western countries had claimed, but to speculation sparked by the subprime crisis in the US, he said.”In reality, it’s quite simple to explain: the subprime crisis last summer in the US had a bad effect on stock markets.Investors are looking for other products, and commodities have become the most attractive for speculation,” he said.Opec’s secretary-general also criticised a warning by the International Energy Agency of looming tensions over crude oil supply from 2010.Business Report”With the boycott of Libya, the boycott of Iran and the problem created in Iraq, there are five million to six million barrels a day lacking on the market,” said the Libyan official.The soaring oil price was not due to “the myth” of the lack of supplies, as Western countries had claimed, but to speculation sparked by the subprime crisis in the US, he said.”In reality, it’s quite simple to explain: the subprime crisis last summer in the US had a bad effect on stock markets.Investors are looking for other products, and commodities have become the most attractive for speculation,” he said.Opec’s secretary-general also criticised a warning by the International Energy Agency of looming tensions over crude oil supply from 2010.Business Report