UPDATE 2-Politics, not shortage behind high oil price- Qatar

(Adds comment on dollar para 10, gas output para 18-19)

By Simon Webb

DOHA, Oct 29 (Reuters) - OPEC would be happy to raise crude oil output if needed but there was no sign yet of a supply shortage in world oil markets, despite record high prices, Qatar's oil minister said on Monday.

Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah told reporters that international tensions were behind high oil prices.

"I haven't any signal that there is any shortage of crude... I believe a big portion of the oil price today is related to geopolitics and fear factors, and we cannot solve it," he said.

"Sometimes there is a shortage of oil products but not of crude. This is because of limitations of refinery (capacity). Consumers and producers should invest more in refining. We don't have a magic stick to solve this."

Oil leapt to a fresh record high on Monday, to $93.20 a barrel as Mexico briefly halted a fifth of its production due to bad weather and the dollar struck new lows.

Oil prices have risen by more than a third since mid-August as a standoff between Turkey and Kurdish rebels, easing interest rates and winter supply fears attracted a fresh wave of capital.

Despite the surge in oil prices, OPEC has shrugged off calls from importer nations to raise output, saying the problem is not one of crude supply.

Attiyah said OPEC would not be able to compensate for any halt in Iran's oil exports should there be an escalation in the Islamic Republic's standoff with the West.

"We would be very happy, if there was demand, to sell all our oil -- if somebody will take it why not? But what we see today is psychological demand not physical demand," Attiyah said.

DOLLAR WEAKNESS

Attiyah said it would also be very difficult to change oil pricing from the dollar to a new basket of currencies, though its weakness was having a negative effect on Qatar and other Gulf states which sell all of their oil, gas and petrochemical products on a dollar basis.

The issue was not on the agenda of the OPEC heads of state meeting in Riyadh on Nov. 17-18, he added, though it could be raised by any minister.

Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez had said on Friday that the currency issue was likely to be a topic for the meeting in the Saudi capital.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ministers are also due to meet in Abu Dhabi in December.