More OPEC oil would only boost stocks: OPEC head

By Karin Strohecker and Eva Komarek

VIENNA, June 21 - Any move by OPEC to raise oil output would merely add to already ample oil stocks in consumer nations, OPEC's secretary-general insisted on Thursday as he met with European Union officials concerned at near record prices.

"As we see it now there is no shortage," OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri told reporters. "There is a lot of oil on the market, the stocks are very high.

"If we add more oil it would not go to the refineries -- it would go to the stocks."

Badri was speaking ahead of a regular meeting between OPEC and EU energy officials at OPEC's Vienna headquarters.

Oil has surged above $70 a barrel from around $50 in January and is within sight of its August, 2006 all-time high above $78.

U.S. gasoline prices have been the main driver in this year's rally as refiners struggled to build stocks to meet peak summer demand in the world's top consumer.

U.S. crude inventories are at their highest in more than nine-years, however, according to government data published on Wednesday. The figures appear to support OPEC's view that refinery bottlenecks are to blame for high prices, not a shortage of crude oil.

German Economy Minister Michael Glos, representing EU president Germany, said $70 oil was putting a strain on import-dependent countries.

"Apart from a few fluctuations we recently had a stable oil price. However, it is close to the upper limit of what would be tolerable for oil consuming nations, some of which find it much harder to afford it than we Germans do," he told reporters.

He said the EU wanted good relations with OPEC, a predictable trade partner and to avoid price shocks.

"I believe OPEC itself has an interest in a well functioning global economy and that there won't be any situations where too high oil prices dampen the economic upswing," he added.

European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs called on OPEC to steer away from output restrictions.

"We are saying: don't make any restriction and open your production according to how each company and each country feels the market should be supplied."