LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, blamed refinery problems for energy shortages and said even if OPEC gave in to calls to increase supply, the excess oil would not be soaked up.
As he arrived in Vienna for an OPEC meeting Tuesday he squashed any speculation that the cartel might decide to increase output quotas by blaming refineries for not keeping up with product demand.
Even if oil output was to rise, there would be no buyers, he said. 'If I increase oil, no-one will buy it,' he said. 'There is a shortage of products. Even in our (area) we are starting to import diesel because of limitations in our refinery,' he added.
It is widely expected the cartel will decide against increasing oil output quotas on Tuesday.
Al Attiyah added the falling value of the dollar was also eroding oil producing countries' wealth, saying the oil price in 2002-2004 was more favourable.
maytaal.angel@thomson.com
ma
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