October 12, 2008

Oil still has not reached its true value – Iranian President

Mehr News Agency quoted Mr Mahmud Ahmadinejad President of Iran as saying that oil is priced too low at USD 115 a barrel and the commodity should find its real value.

Mr Ahmadinejad, while addressing at 13th Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals Exhibition in Tehran, said that "Oil at USD 115 a barrel in today’s market is a deceiving figure. Oil is a strategic commodity and should find its real value."

He said that oil should not be a political tool in the hands of those who are inimical toward the oil rich nations. He added that "When they get hold of oil, they assume that oil is a free commodity and belongs to them and has wrongly been placed in other territories. This is the spirit of selfishness and arrogance."

Mr Ahmadinejad said that despite high oil prices, the true value of crude oil, adjusted for inflation, is currently less than what it was in 1980. He added that "While the prices of other commodities have increased, the economic value of the current oil price is even less than it was in 1980."