A release of U.S. stockpiled oil--if it happens--may be driven by electoral considerations, not market needs, as there isn't a supply shortage, a top Iranian official said Friday.
A release of
U.S.
stockpiled oil--if it happens--may be driven by electoral considerations, not market
needs, as there isn't a supply shortage, a top Iranian official said Friday.
New speculation emerged Thursday that the
U.S.
government may tap again into its emergency oil stockpiles after prices rose
back above $110 a barrel in recent weeks.
But speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, Mohammad Ali Khatibi,
Iran
's
governor at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said: "the
market is balanced now. There is no shortage. This is not the time for a stock
release."
So if the
U.S.
government was to undertake such a move, "my guess is that there is a
relation between the release and elections," he said.
U.S.
president Barack Obama is up for re-election in November and the issue of high
oil prices has emerged as a contentious one during his campaign.
"Maybe they [the
U.S.
government] will manipulate the prices," Mr. Khatibi said. "Due to
some election, they may be trying to use it [an emergency release] as a tool to
influence voters."
The Petroleum Policy Intelligence newsletter Thursday described a stock release
as "imminent," saying that "as far as the
U.S.
is
concerned, the decision appears to have been taken."
A White House spokesman said last week that "all options remain on the
table" about drawing from stockpiles, as it did last year to fill the gap
left by the absence of Libyan barrels due to the battle to overthrow Col
Moammar Gadhafi.
Yet, the
U.S.
could
face the opposition of the International Energy Agency, which normally
coordinates such moves by consumers and has described the oil market as
adequately supplied.
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