U.S. President Bill Clinton on September 7th said he told Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz in a meeting the two had the night before in New York that crude prices are too high and urged OPEC to take appropriate action when the group meets on September 10th.
“I told him that I was very concerned that the price of oil was too high, not just for America, but for the world; that if it was to cause a recession in any part of the world, that would hurt oil-producing countries,” Clinton said.
In addition, the U.S. president said that: “There were other reasons why it’s not in our interest, and he agreed with that; he’s been very strong about that.” Clinton did not confirm a report that the Saudi crown prince had promised him that OPEC will raise its output by 700,000 b/d.
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami also said on September 7th that Tehran will back a boost in OPEC’s output at the upcoming conference, as long as the increase is in line with a rise in global demand.
According to the Iranian leader, “In principle, we are not against an output rise in proportion to the rise in global demand in oil.” Iran and others are expected to hold firm for a maximum 500,000 b/d increase in OPEC output at the Vienna ministerial conference. The U.S. and Iranian leaders’ statements came on the day after crude prices shot up to a new 10-year high, with West Texas Intermediate closing at $34.90 a barrel and Brent closing at $34 a barrel on September 6th.
( oilnavigator )
