...OPEC blames the Republican administration for soaring oil prices

bush

(Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:02:21 -0500) --- With the U.S. economy slowing down, oil prices have risen as investors
flee the stock market and seek refuge in hard assets like commodities.
The fall in the value of the dollar gives OPEC an incentive to keep
prices high: Since oil is sold in dollars, petroleum producers see the
value of their exports decline any time the dollar drops.

The dollar has lost 17 percent of its value against the euro this
year.

On Wednesday, it fell to a new low against the euro, trading at $1.53.

"OPEC is angry that President Bush wants them to increase production
while the dollar is sinking and the administration is doing nothing
about that," said Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer. in New
York.

"It's really not surprising that they have ignored him."

From The International Herald Tribune, 3/6/08:

www.iht.com

OPEC blames 'mismanaged' U.S. economy for soaring oil prices

By Jad Mouawad

OPEC, rebuffing calls from U.S. President George W. Bush to increase
oil output, cited "mismanagement" of the American economy as a major
factor driving prices up.

Record prices are suddenly creating the sharpest tensions in years
between the oil cartel and the United States, the world's largest oil
consumer.

Two days after the president called for more oil on the global market,
OPEC members, meeting in Vienna, Austria, chose to leave their
production levels unchanged, declaring that the market has plenty of
oil already.

The cartel's president on Wednesday blamed financial speculators and
American economic problems, which have helped lower the value of the
dollar, for the high oil prices.

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Harry

Harry Hope (rivrvu@ix.netcom.com).

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