OPEC Chief: OPEC May Act On $100 Bbl Price If Due To Fundamentals

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could change its output ceiling if oil prices rise to $100 a barrel due to market fundamentals, the group's secretary general said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the OPEC meeting in Quito , Abdalla Salem el-Badri said that "when prices go at $100, that means there is something wrong. You have to do something."

Oil prices broke the psychological threshold of $90 a barrel Tuesday in New York , over a severely cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere and somewhat better-than-expected economic recovery, though they have since slightly eased. On Thursday, crude futures for January delivery in the New York Mercantile Exchange were trading at $88.33, up 6 cents.

While some of OPEC's most powerful member have said they're comfortable with the current price level, members such as Libya , Venezuela and Algeria have said would they like oil to reach $100 a barrel, saying they don't fully benefit from the price because the dollar is weak compared to other currencies.

OPEC reports the gap between real prices -- excluding currency and inflation effects -- and nominal ones has widened significantly in the past two years. According to OPEC's reports, the OPEC reference basket has risen from $44.9 a barrel in October 2008 -- when it was in free fall -- to $49.5 in October 2010, with the difference between nominal and real prices rising from $24.26 a barrel to $30.36 a barrel.

El-Badri said that the oil market is at a comfortable level for both producers and consumers. The organization doesn't expect to change its output quota at the meeting scheduled for Saturday, el-Badri said. "This is a normal meeting," he said. "No increase, no decrease." The official said that there is stability in the oil market.

OPEC's 12 members are Ecuador , Algeria , Angola , Iran , Iraq , Kuwait , Libya , Nigeria , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela .