The price of crude oil is too high, and is partly driven by speculation, which must be stopped because oil prices are too high, Saudi King Abdullah said in a newspaper interview published Wednesday.
"Oil has become a commodity, almost like a currency," King Abdullah told La Repubblica in an interview. "And at this point the greed of certain people, certain companies becomes a factor. They exploit the price rise to accumulate wealth for themselves."
King Abdullah said the recent decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase oil output hasn't had the desired effect of cooling prices.
Therefore "oil producers must work more closely with oil consumers to stabilize the price, which is a common goal," he said.