Oil at $100 a Barrel `Fair,' Venezuela's Chavez Says (Update1)
By Steven Bodzin
Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Oil prices of $80 to $100 a barrel are ``fair'' and Venezuela will seek to keep prices in that range, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said.
``We seek stabilization at $100 a barrel for several years,'' Chavez said at a press conference today in Caracas. He said prices over the past 30 years were ``very low'' and that $100 oil today was, after inflation, similar to the $30 oil experienced in 1973 and 1974.
Chavez has increased the price he calls ``fair'' as oil climbed. In June, Chavez said the floor should be $60 a barrel; a year earlier he said $50 and, in 2005, $40. In 2002, he said prices of $22 to $28 a barrel were ``right.'' In December 2000, Chavez said, ``We don't want oil to increase to $40 or $50.''
Crude oil for December delivery fell $4.06, or 4.3 percent, to $90.56 a barrel at 1:48 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are heading for the biggest drop since Aug. 6. The contract touched $90.20, the lowest since Oct. 31. Futures climbed to $98.62 on Nov. 7, the highest price since trading began in 1983. Oil is up 55 percent from a year ago.
Today's prices are not destabilizing to the world economy, Chavez said today.
Chavez said the price increase is partly a result of ``irrational'' growth in energy demand in wealthy nations and that higher prices provide a chance to ``reflect'' on excessive consumption, particularly the use of vehicles with just one passenger.
OPEC Summit
He said he was preparing to go a summit with heads of state from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Riyadh. Several leaders of the oil cartel have said they don't plan to discuss increased oil output at this meeting.
Chavez said he would use the summit to push for increased giving to poor countries.
``We're going to propose formulas of protection for the poorest nations of the world,'' he said. ``We could, if the prices consolidate at about $100, open an international humanitarian fund in seven years and direct $100 billion a year to the struggle against misery in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Bodzin in Caracas at sbodzin@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: November 13, 2007 14:14 EST
By Steven Bodzin
Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Oil prices of $80 to $100 a barrel are ``fair'' and Venezuela will seek to keep prices in that range, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said.
``We seek stabilization at $100 a barrel for several years,'' Chavez said at a press conference today in Caracas. He said prices over the past 30 years were ``very low'' and that $100 oil today was, after inflation, similar to the $30 oil experienced in 1973 and 1974.
Chavez has increased the price he calls ``fair'' as oil climbed. In June, Chavez said the floor should be $60 a barrel; a year earlier he said $50 and, in 2005, $40. In 2002, he said prices of $22 to $28 a barrel were ``right.'' In December 2000, Chavez said, ``We don't want oil to increase to $40 or $50.''
Crude oil for December delivery fell $4.06, or 4.3 percent, to $90.56 a barrel at 1:48 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are heading for the biggest drop since Aug. 6. The contract touched $90.20, the lowest since Oct. 31. Futures climbed to $98.62 on Nov. 7, the highest price since trading began in 1983. Oil is up 55 percent from a year ago.
Today's prices are not destabilizing to the world economy, Chavez said today.
Chavez said the price increase is partly a result of ``irrational'' growth in energy demand in wealthy nations and that higher prices provide a chance to ``reflect'' on excessive consumption, particularly the use of vehicles with just one passenger.
OPEC Summit
He said he was preparing to go a summit with heads of state from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Riyadh. Several leaders of the oil cartel have said they don't plan to discuss increased oil output at this meeting.
Chavez said he would use the summit to push for increased giving to poor countries.
``We're going to propose formulas of protection for the poorest nations of the world,'' he said. ``We could, if the prices consolidate at about $100, open an international humanitarian fund in seven years and direct $100 billion a year to the struggle against misery in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Bodzin in Caracas at sbodzin@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: November 13, 2007 14:14 EST
