Opec power Saudi Arabia is concerned by high oil prices but said speculators and tight stockpiles of US gasoline are driving the market rally, Italy's leading financial newspaper said on Sunday.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in an interview he did not yet know whether strong oil prices would lead the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to delay its pact to cut supplies by one million barrels per day from April.
"We too are worried about prices but we also look at fundamentals of demand," Naimi told Il Sole 24 Ore.
"I am convinced there are two reasons for such a high price - the reduced quantity of petrol in America and speculators who are convinced there is going to be a lack of crude."
Naimi, oil minister of the world's largest crude exporter, would not predict the outcome of the cartel's meeting on March 31 in Vienna.
"I don't know. At the moment no one is in a position to say," he said. "The decision (to cut) has already been taken in Algiers. However, as always, we will carry out a deep review of all the data regarding demand and reserves."
While Opec President Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said the cartel would not back track on its decision to curb supplies, the oil minister of the United Arab Emirates has said the exporters could delay their cuts if prices were too high.
"I do not know if they have changed idea," Naimi said. "We have to think why prices are so high based on the realities of the market and not on things that have nothing to do with real demand."
Oil prices in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, have soared past $38 a barrel to 13-year highs since Opec agreed its output cut last month in Algiers.
But ministers, including Naimi, are still worried about a potential oil glut and resulting price collapse in the second quarter when there is a seasonal drop in petroleum demand.
Naimi said economic growth, especially in Asia, was partly behind oil's relentless rise. But he said investors speculating on oil to provide profits and consumers unnerved by "terrorism" were also applying upward pressure.
Opec's own reference basket now stands at $33.03 - well beyond the cartel's $22-$28 price band. Naimi's preference is for a price in the middle of the target band, but he said "unknown elements" are, for now, preventing that.
"I have always said that $25 is a balanced price that would guarantee stability," he said. "But there are unknown elements...that continue to weigh on prices."
Opec, which controls half the world's traded crude, has been leaking above its official output limits to take advantage of the sharp price rise. But these extra barrels have so far failed to cool scorching prices.
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