Business | Oil & Gas

Chavez says $100 oil seems 'just and right'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday that he saw $100 per barrel as a fair price for oil and that his Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) member nation does not want a higher price than that.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 23:41 July 25, 2008
  • Gulf News

Lisbon: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday that he saw $100 per barrel as a fair price for oil and that his Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) member nation does not want a higher price than that.

Oil traded around $125 a barrel on Thursday, slightly recovered from seven-week lows.

The market's recent pullback comes after prices hit an all-time high of $147.27 on July 11.

"If the price stabilises around $100 it would seem just and right," Chavez, in Portugal as part of his European tour, said in remarks broadcast by Portugal's SIC television channel.

The leftist leader said the market "has been seeking a stabilisation level" in recent days and criticised "a speculative impact" on prices, which he blamed on the capitalist system.

"Venezuela has never wanted oil to cost more than $100," added Chavez, who warned 10 days ago oil prices could hit $300 per barrel if US oil company ExxonMobil again freezes Venezuelan assets in a dispute over a nationalised oil project.

He also said then the collapse of a "speculative bubble" could send prices as low as $70 per barrel.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told Reuters on Wednesday he saw no need for Opec to change its output levels despite the sharp drop in world crude prices over the last few weeks.

He said the market was driven by speculative factors, prices were too unstable and there was little Opec could do.

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