The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday world oil stocks were too low and oil prices were too high but that Opec, which meets next week to review output, had little interest in such firm prices.
"I don't think Opec have any interest in prices like this," said William Ramsay, deputy executive director of the IEA, which monitors world energy markets for major industrialised nations.
However, he declined to say what he thought Opec might decide to do when it meets in Algiers on February 10.
"I think Opec would like to find a way to relax these prices and get them back more likely into the price band of $22 to $28," he told reporters in Bangkok on the sidelines of an energy meeting sponsored by the IEA and the Thai energy ministry.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has said it wants to keep oil prices between $22 and $28 a barrel based on its reference price. The reference price, determined by averaging a basket of crudes, was at $29.19 at its last reading on Tuesday.
Average crude futures prices in 2003 were their highest in more than two decades and have remained firm so far in 2004, sparking cries from consumers for Opec to loosen the taps.
Some ministers in the cartel, which controls half the world's crude exports, have said in recent days the grouping was likely to leave its official production limit of 24.5 million barrels per day unchanged when it meets in Algiers.
However, worried that higher temperatures in the northern hemisphere in the second quarter will lead to a fall in oil demand, Opec is scheduled to meet again on March 31 to review production policy again.
US light crude futures rose to $36.37 per barrel in January as oil inventories in the United States fell during peak winter demand for heating fuel.
By Thursday, US light crude had fallen to $33.05, still a level some economists have argued hampers economic growth.
"From the IEA's point of view stocks are too low and prices are too high," Ramsay said. "We do welcome the attitude of wanting to lower the price."
He said he didn't think prices had fallen owing to signs that oil inventories were rising, but because freezing temperatures in several regions of the United States appeared to be easing.
"A lot of people have been arguing that prices have been falling because of weather forecasts suggesting the weather will be mild."
Oil markets watch US oil stocks closely because the country uses 20/21 million bpd of oil, about a quarter of global consumption.
US government data on Wednesday showed crude stocks, which were at 28-year lows in the week ended January 23, climbed almost eight million barrels in the week ended January 30 but remained 29 million barrels below the five-year average.
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