OPEC is concerned that soaring oil prices could slow global growth, but believes current 13-year highs are largely out of its control, the group's president, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, said yesterday.
"OPEC is very concerned with the current high oil prices, and we'll try to avoid the same global recession as what happened in 1973," Purnomo, who is also Indonesia's oil minister, told a news conference.
In the fallout of the 1973 Yom Kippur War defeat of Arab forces against Israel, OEPC raised oil prices tremendously, triggering massive economic problems for oil-importing nations.
OPEC members will meet informally in Amsterdam next week to discuss a proposal from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, to hike output by 1.5 million barrels per day from the current ceiling of 23.5 million.
Although Kuwait has agreed to the plan, most OPEC members have not yet decided whether to back the measure, Purnomo said.
Still, OPEC's ability to bring down global oil price, which are currently trading around record US$40 per barrel levels, is limited, Purnomo said.
Instability in the Middle East, high demand for gasoline in the US, and speculation by oil futures traders have all driven prices higher, he added. Oil futures have touched 13-year highs this week.
"All of these factors are out of OPEC's control," Purnomo said.
OPEC pumps a third of the world's oil. The group's officials argue that there is little they can do, citing geopolitics and a tightness in US gasoline stocks for driving high prices.
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