US economic performance has less impact on oil prices than in the past because growth in demand has recently come mainly from countries like China and India, a senior Iranian oil official said on Sunday.
Mohammad Ali Khatibi, speaking on the oil ministry's news Web site SHANA, said US calls for a increase in crude oil production made before last week's OPEC meeting did not take into account "market realities".
Washington said a hike would ease the pain high crude prices were inflicting on the US economy and said it was disappointed after OPEC chose to hold output steady. OPEC has blamed speculation and other factors, not supply, for high oil prices.
"Based on the statements of American officials, an increase in OPEC output would help the US economy ... This is while even the International Energy Agency did not ask for an incresae in OPEC output, in view of the market realities," Khatibi said.
"This demonstrates the Americans are looking for a way out of their current bad economic condition," said Khatibi, deputy director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company.
After Wednesday's meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the IEA said record crude oil prices would have eased had OPEC raised output. Khatibi said members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which groups industrialised nations, were not now the main drivers for growth in oil demand.