Poorer oil-producing countries should be compensated for lost revenues if climate talks in Copenhagen agree to cut the use of oil, Opec Secretary-General Abdallah al-Badri was quoted as saying in the Times on Saturday. The Kyoto Protocol, the precursor to Copenhagen, had included the pledge of financial assistance, and failure to comply could be fatal for next month's talks in the Danish capital, the paper reported him as saying.
-- Says rich nations should compensate poor ones for loss of revenues
-- Wants a watchdog to monitor excessive oil speculation
Badri said it was the richer oil-consuming countries that needed to acknowledge their responsibility for most of the carbon dioxide emitted to date. They should not block poorer countries from raising living standards for their own people. "We are not emitting," he was quoted as saying from Opec's headquarters in Vienna. "Historically, it is the developed countries. The responsibility is on their shoulders. "We need a comprehensive and sophisticated approach." Badri was also quoted as saying a watchdog should be created to monitor excessive speculation in the oil market.
He accused City speculators of causing a recent surge in oil prices by holding 130 million barrels in tankers at sea, waiting for prices to rise. "Extreme speculation causes extreme volatility in the market," he was quoted as saying. "There must be a watchdog to make sure speculation is not excessive. It is really too much."
Paper trading of oil futures contracts were also contributing to this speculation, he added. Badri said he did not see a peak in oil production "now or for the foreseeable future." "There is plenty of oil and technology is advancing very rapidly."
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