Qatar minister says OPEC cannot influence oil prices; more refineries needed

[Paciente]

20 Apr 2006 17:11 GMT


Qatar minister says OPEC cannot influence oil prices; more refineries needed

DUBAI (AFX) - Qatari Oil Minister Abdallah Ben Hamad Al-Attiyah told Al-Jazeera television that OPEC is powerless to influence the current record high oil prices on world markets, which he said are due mainly to a shortage of refining capacity, notably in the United States.

"The Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries is doing what it can ... and producing what it can produce", with its members pumping oil at full capacity, Attiyah said, when asked about the cartel's room for manoeuvre to contain soaring oil prices.

"OPEC has for a long time left it up to the market to regulate prices, and it is extremely difficult for it to influence price trends", the minister said.

OPEC is holding an informal meeting at Doha this weekend on the sidelines of the 10th International Energy Forum from April 22-25.

"The world is not facing a crisis of supply, the market is better supplied than before. The problem, notably in the United States, is linked to a crisis of petroleum products due to a lack of refining capacity", the Qatari minister said.

"Today, we should concentrate on building more refineries to avoid a shortage of petroleum products", he said.

"I call on the industrialised countries, primarily the United States, to open the door to investments in refineries and facilitate the granting of approval (for more refineries)", he said.