US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said on Friday the US government would not stop topping up its strategic oil reserve despite high oil prices.
The United States is filling its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at a rate of about 100,000 barrels per day, while crude oil prices have soared to their highest level since March 18, a few days before the outbreak of the Iraq war.
"One doesn't have to be an energy secretary" to notice the high price of oil, Abraham told a small group of reporters. "It has been consistently higher than the levels of recent years."
Asked if Washington planned to help bring prices down by stopping its purchases, he said: "No, we don't. The volume is very modest and it doesn't affect the markets."
New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) front-month crude futures hit nine-month highs on Friday, propelled by worries that a cold snap in the United States would draw down crude stocks, which are already at 29-year lows.
The key February contract rose as high as $34.40 a barrel, up 42 cents or 1.2 percent on the day.
Washington questioned Opec policy last month after the cartel said high prices were justified by the weakness of the dollar, the currency of world oil trade.
"Production levels should be driven by market forces rather than by artificial decisions made not based on the market; this is the case for at least Opec," Abraham said on Friday.
Opec ministers have said that because a weaker dollar undermines the value of their dollar-denominated exports, they are keen to defend a higher price.
"I was little surprised when they injected this issue into the recent debate," he said, noting that Opec had not suggested a lower price when the dollar was stronger.
Opec's reference basket was valued at $30.41 on Thursday, up from Wednesday's $30.23, well above its official target range of $22-$28 a barrel.
The dollar sank about 17 percent against the euro and 10 percent against the yen in 2003 and has weakened further this year.
As the dollar weakened in 2003 oil prices rose to their highest annual average levels in more than two decades.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has kept a tight rein on output but Opec President Purnomo Yusgiantoro of Indonesia said on Thursday the group wanted lower prices too.
Purnomo, Indonesia's energy minister, told Reuters in an interview that the Opec would prefer prices at $28 a barrel for a basket of crudes, down from over $30 now.
Abraham leaves Japan on Saturday for China. He will also visit the Philippines and Australia next week.
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