Oil prices rising too high, too fast: Total CEO
ABU DHABI |
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Global oil prices have risen too high, too quickly but increased OPEC output will not stem the rise as the climb is driven by demand, the chief executive of French oil major Total said on Sunday.
"The world economy is just recovering," Christophe de Margerie told Reuters ahead of an energy conference in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. "It would have been better for the prices not to go too high too quickly.
"The market is bullish because there is increasing demand in emerging markets ... it (demand) is higher than expected."
Brent crude rose above $99 a barrel on Friday in New York, gaining 5.73 percent on the week. Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil for February delivery rose 14 cents to settle at $91.54 a barrel.
A Reuters poll last week showed U.S. crude oil is expected to hit $100 a barrel in the first quarter, but a new record high above $147 is far less likely.
Asked whether OPEC should raise production, de Margerie said that may not help curb rising prices.
"It's difficult because there is no shortage of oil. Today it is much more determined by the market," he said, adding: "Too high oil would not be well received by consumers."
Iran's oil minister said on Sunday no OPEC countries had requested an emergency meeting to discuss the rising price of crude. Massoud Mirkazemi called $100 oil a "real" price and said it was not a matter of concern for producers.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Amran Abocar; Editing by David Holmes)
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Changes in investment rules were promised after the last speculation driven spike in oil prices, but laws governing speculation markets like options and derivatives have not appreciably changed, presumably because some money laden, powerful people and corporations know there is a lot of money to be made when the opportunity presents.
A change in regulations would benefit the ordinary citizens of America and the rest of the world by keeping prices more stable, but as evidenced by the Collapse and its aftermath, decisions in Congress are made in the interest of an elite oligarchy, not in the interest of ordinary citizens.
The next spike in oil prices will prove my accusation, once again. Beta can be worth a lot of money to those who have enough money to speculate.
True to large degree. On the other hand, the only way for the US as a whole to be competitive in a global economy without relying on exploiting trade agreements with poorer nations (which is not good for long term global stability) is for ordinary citizens to make some sacrifices. Hopefully the elite would make meaningful sacrifices too in solidarity with the needs of the nation (although historically that is much less often the case), but in any event, despite what many think, this problem simply cannot be solved by sacrifice at the top ONLY. Here’s why:
Most of the wealth at the top is in investments. If a substantial portion of that wealth were let go of so that ordinary citizens could maintain their accustomed standards of living, they would likely be absorbed by the monolithic economic block of China, which stands perennially poised to do so. On the global scale, that amounts to a shift in economic clout away from the US, and toward China.
Squeezing the wealthy of the US is not in the economic interests of the nation. Ordinary citizens in the US may not recognize that they benefit from that wealth, but they do — just as the lowly Chinese peasant benefits from the economic stability that comes from the fact that her government has wealth and power and clout on the world stage, even if her individual circumstances are not optimal.
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