OPEC can do nothing about high oil price: Qatar

Dubai, Aug 3: OPEC can do nothing about the high price of oil as there is no shortage of crude in the market, Qatar's oil minister said today.

''We can't do anything because this price is not related to a shortage of supply,'' Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told the sources by telephone.

''Inventories in industrialised countries are at high levels.

That proves there is no shortage of supply at all.'' US crude hit a record price of .77 a barrel today after crude stocks in the world's number one consumer fell.

But stocks remain well above last year's levels and Attiyah said the fall was not a sign of tight supplies.

''Stocks could rebuild again very quickly,'' he said. ''There is still plenty of oil in the market. We know we can only move when there is a real shortage of supplies. We need proof that extra production is needed.'' The United States and the Paris-based International Energy Agency have repeatedly called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost supply to dampen high prices.

But the producer group blames high prices on refinery capacity constraints in consuming countries and international political tension over Iran's nuclear programme. Attiyah reiterated that view on Thursday.

OPEC, source of more than a third of the world's oil, is next due to meet on Sept. 11 to discuss output policy.

An OPEC delegate on Thursday said there was no need for the 12-member group to boost supply in the fourth quarter.

Qatar has been badly hit by weakness in the dollar but has no plans to ask for payments in any other currency, he said.

The dollar hit an all-time low against the euro last week. Dollar weakness has hurt oil producers' purchasing power in currencies not pegged to the US greenback.

A move away from dollar payments would be very difficult unless other producers did the same, he added.

Attiyah said Qatar receives all of its oil income in dollars as do fellow Gulf OPEC producers Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.

The weak dollar had lessened the impact of the high oil price on European and Japanese buyers, Attiyah said.

OPEC's second-largest producer Iran caused a stir in financial markets when it asked Japanese oil buyers to pay in yen rather than dollars last month.

Qatar is OPEC's smallest producer, with output at around 800,000 barrels per day.

Reuters>