Crude Oil Advances as Qatar Says OPEC Unable to Control Prices
By Grant Smith and Nesa Subrahmaniyan
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for the first time in four days after Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said OPEC is unable to temper near-record prices.
OPEC, which pumps more than 40 percent of the world's oil, will meet on Feb. 1 in Vienna for the first time since oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel. U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday warned Arab allies of the dangers posed by neighboring Iran, OPEC's second-biggest oil producer and exporter.
``OPEC believes that even though crude-oil supply is tight, there's no need for them to release extra barrels,'' said Robert Laughlin, a senior broker at MF Global Ltd. in London. ``Geopolitical concerns are being stoked by President Bush's hardline talk against Iran and increasing violence in Nigeria.''
Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as 57 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $93.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $92.98 at 11:44 a.m. London time. Prices are down 6.8 percent from the record $100.09 reached on Jan. 3.
Brent crude for February settlement gained as much as 85 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $91.92 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. It traded at $91.47 a barrel at 11:44 a.m. London time.
``OPEC are only oil producers, they are not fixing prices. They can't control the market forces,'' Qatar's al-Attiyah told reporters in Doha today. ``They can't control the geopolitics. They can't control the speculation.''
Goldman Sachs
Oil dropped 5.3 percent last week as U.S. stocks posted their longest losing streak since August. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the U.S. and Japan are at risk of recession.
``Iran today is the world's leading state sponsor of terror,'' President Bush said yesterday in Abu Dhabi. ``Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere.''
Iran will provide the United Nations's atomic agency with all remaining information on the country's past nuclear programs within four weeks, the International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a Nigerian militant group, said freelance fighters it supports detonated a remote explosive device that caused a fire on an oil tanker in Port Harcourt on Jan. 11.
Militant assaults have halted as much as 20 percent of Nigeria's oil production since early 2006. A Jan. 1 attack by MEND on two police stations and a hotel in Port Harcourt helped push oil prices over $100 for the first time.
Hedge fund managers and other large speculators have raised their bets on rising oil prices during the past three weeks, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
The net-long position in New York oil futures, the difference between contracts to buy and sell the commodity, rose 9 percent to 94,923 contracts in the week ended Jan. 8, the commission said last week.
To contact the reporters on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 14, 2008 06:45 EST
