Venezuela says no output change from Saudi meeting

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez on Wednesday said the upcoming meeting of oil producers and consumers in Saudi Arabia will not yield an agreement to change oil production levels.

Saudi Arabia has called a June 22 meeting to discuss record oil prices, which hit a record $139.12 a barrel on Friday and traded above $136 on Wednesday. Consumer nations say these prices could slow economic growth and spark inflation.

Ramirez said OPEC is already working to keep markets in balance, therefore the Saudi meeting will not be a forum to discuss production.

"It is not the place to agree any of these things," he told reporters at a meeting between government leaders and businessmen in Caracas.

"I hope the main consumer countries will understand that OPEC exists and that we have developed an extraordinary role in keeping the market balanced," he said.

Ramirez said he did not know if Venezuela will attend the meeting. He also said he did not see a need for OPEC to hike output because prices have nothing to do with production but rather are caused by speculation and the falling dollar.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez later said oil prices were higher than they should be but warned they could go even higher.

"It should not be where it is ... oil should be around $100 (per barrel)," said Chavez in a televised speech.

"Oil could reach $200 per barrel, we said it some time ago."

Ramirez did not say what he thought were "fair" oil prices, even as some OPEC nations have said they believe current price levels are too high.

"It's not about if there is a fair price or not ... it's about conditions that are out of our control, that don't correspond to the fundamentals of the market," he said.

(Reporting by Patricia Rondon, Writing by Brian Ellsworth)