Record oil not producers' fault: Angola oil min

By Anna Driver

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Angola's minister of petroleum on Monday said producing nations are not responsible for record-high crude oil prices and they are not profiting from them.

"OPEC's interest is for a dialogue," Desiderio Costa, Angola's minister of petroleum, told reporters after speaking at the 2008 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas. "The reason why the price is high is not from the responsibility of the producer."

He cited speculative investors in the market and the decline in the U.S. dollar as two reasons that have helped propel crude oil futures prices to a record of $120 per barrel.

"The profit is not going to the producer," Costa said, without elaborating.

OPEC has declined to increase production despite calls to do so from consumer nations.

Earlier, Costa said he expects his country's oil production to rise to 2 million barrels per day next year, boosted by ultra deepwater projects.

"The potential for growth is great," Costa told the meeting.

Angola's current production is 1.9 million barrels per day, he said.

The country also expects to sharpen its focus on the exploration and production of natural gas, as world demand for that hydrocarbon grows, Costa said.

Because Angola expects to develop a number of complex fields in ultra deepwaters, Costa said he believes Brazil's giant Tupi find in the Santos basin is "an encouragement" because the countries' offshore reservoirs share similar geology.

Costa also told reporters he would like to see Brazil join OPEC as a member nation.

"My personal opinion is it's not bad for Brazil to join OPEC," Costa said, adding that he has been very happy with his country's decision to join in 2007.

Angola is Africa's second-largest exporter of oil behind Nigeria.

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston, editing by Matthew Lewis)