Developing economies face oil price dilemma, OPEC Chief says
OPEC: Developing countries are facing a dilemma in managing oil
prices on their home market, Chakib Khelil, President of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said here on
Tuesday.
Speaking at a plenary session of the on-going 19th World Petroleum
Congress in Madrid, the OPEC Chief said that with the different economic
bases and purchasing powers it is irrational to let people from the
developing countries have the same price as those in developed ones.
Governments in developing nations thus face a dilemma: too much
subsidy will be an economic burden, while no subsidy will be unfair for
the general public, according to the OPEC chief.
It is unimaginable, Khelil said, to have one and the same price for
people with a monthly income of 500 U.S. dollars and those with 3,000
dollars.
The fact that Europe and the United States have different oil prices
tells us that even among the developed economies governments would
subsidize oil prices, Khelil said. The OPEC leader said that volatile
and high oil prices are no good for either oil purchasing countries or
producing countries.
He said OPEC, which is producing 40 percent of the world’s crude oil,
does not set the price.
With new technology, OPEC will increase its production and turn out
about 50 percent or even 60 percent of the world oil supply in the
future, Khelil said, adding the cartel will contribute about 52 percent
of the world’s oil by 2010.
Madrid, Wednesday, Xinhua |