Reuters reports the statements of the President of OPEC, as recorded by the Algerian government newspaper El Moudjahid and state news agency APS:

Oil prices will stay at current high levels for the rest of this year due to speculation and geopolitical tensions, Algerian state media on Monday reported OPEC President Chakib Khelil as saying…”The oil market will stay above $100 during the current financial year, according to the assessment of Mr Khelil,” APS said…

Khelil…said the factors driving the market at present included “speculation, geopolitical tensions, particularly due to the Iranian nuclear affair and the crisis between Venezuela and ExxonMobil,” APS reported.

The world economy could get some help with the arrival of a new U.S. president, and possibly a new economic policy, “and with this new situation it is very probable that the dollar will start to recover and thus permit a readjustment of the (oil) market”…

“If we had increased our production given all these factors, you wouldn’t have been able to miss the impact on prices,” he said, suggesting prices would have slid. “We left our output unchanged so as not to disturb the market further and to help the world economy resume its momentum of growth”

Hmmm. Does OPEC have a preference on who should be the “new U.S. President”? Finally we note in another Reuters story: “‘The disconnect between slowing U.S. growth and a soaring commodity/energy complex has truly been quite remarkable,’ said Edward Meir of MF Global.” You can say that again.

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