Iraqi threats pump up oil price
THE PRICE of oil careered closer to $50 a barrel today after news of a fall in America's stockpiles of crude and threats by insurgents in Iraq against oil installations.
US crude rose to a new high of $47.95 while Brent leapt 59 cents to $43.62.
Crude stocks in America fell by 1.3m barrels last week, the third consecutive week's fall.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has yet to receive proposals from member countries on how much the cartel should raise its price basket range in response to the rise in world oil prices, said Opec President Purnomo Yusgiantoro.
He said Opec will discuss the price band during its meeting next month in Vienna.
'But how by much the range will be, that's still unknown because there is no proposal yet from Opec members,' he said.
The cartel is considering raising the current oil price band of $22-$28 a barrel. Opec uses the band to determine whether it must reduce or add production in order to keep oil prices stable within that price range.
But Yusgiantoro said the rise in oil prices is more the result of market speculation than on lack of supply.
Most Opec members are already pumping oil at their maximum capacity, said Yusgiantoro, who is also Indonesia's minister for energy and mineral resources.
