Only a selfish friend, and that's not really a friend at all, is it?
Also see: Iran Drops Oil Prices
So, WHO IS YOUR BUDDY, 'murka?
"OPEC warns against Iran conflict; 'Unlimited' oil price rise seen" by James Kanter, New York Times News Service | July 11, 2008
VIENNA - The head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries warned yesterday that oil prices would experience an "unlimited" increase in the event of a military conflict involving Iran because the group's members would be unable to make up the lost production.
Abdalla Salem el-Badri, OPEC's secretary-general, in an interview:
"We really cannot replace Iran's production - it's not feasible to replace it."
Iran, the second-largest producing country in OPEC after Saudi Arabia, produces about 4 million barrels of oil a day out of the daily worldwide production of close to 87 million barrels. The country has been locked in a long dispute with Western nations over its nuclear ambitions.
In recent weeks, the price of oil has risen higher on speculation that Israel could be preparing an attack on the country's nuclear facilities. The saber rattling intensified this week with missile tests by Iran. That has further unnerved oil markets because of concerns that any conflict with Iran could disrupt oil shipments from the gulf.
El-Badri, a former oil executive who has headed the oil industry in Libya and served as deputy prime minister of that country, called for a peaceful solution, and he hinted that an additional conflict in the Middle East besides the continuing conflict in Iraq would be severe and long-lasting.
He said current geopolitical tensions were among the main reasons for the high price of oil, adding that a shortfall in refining capacity and a weak dollar were other factors, but reiteratng OPEC's position that speculation on oil markets probably was the most important one.--MORE--"
