JAKARTA, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The president of the Organization of Oil Producing Countries said Tuesday skyrocketing oil prices are beyond the cartel's control.
Speaking in Jakarta, Purnomo Yusgiantoro spoke to reporters after price per barrel broke through the $50 mark in New York overnight and in Asian deals earlier.
Yusgiantoro blamed the price spike on unrest in Nigeria and ongoing uncertainties over the struggling Russian oil giant Yukos, The Times of London reported.
"Now the problem is with Nigeria and Russia. We are constantly communicating with our friends in OPEC," he said.
In Nigeria, growing tensions in the Niger Delta, where rebels have threatened war against the government next month, have raised concerns over the stability of supplies from a region responsible for the country's output of 2.3 million barrels per day by Shell and Agip.
As well, Iraq's shaky oil output and hurricanes in the southeastern United States have also impacted production, which Yusgiantoro said was not a dire threat to supply.
"OPEC can still raise supply ... we still have a spare capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day until the end of the year," he said.
